AN OPEN LETTER TO MGI ORGANIZATION
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:07 pm
Dear MGI Organization,
My name is XXXX XXX SENG, from Malaysia. I am the owner of Youtube channel seng12900. First, I would like to congratulate MGI for showing us such a grand pageant, I'm enjoying every moment of it.
Second, the purpose I'm writing this message because recently Malaysia is attacking by Indonesia. Many Indonesians have expressed their dissatisfaction on the social media accounts of my country Malaysia and our Queen Sanjeda John. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify myself:-
Malaysia is a multinational country. No specific costume for Malaysia since we are multi-racial country consisting of Malays, Chinese, Indians and many other natives such as Sakai in Peninsular Malaya, Kadasan and others in Sabah and Sarawak. Each race has its own costume. Since we Malaysian lives with so many races,to my opinion, it is fair to say all the races costume here are the national costume including Javanese who lives in Malaysia.
We acknowledged that the costume was inspired by the Javanese community in Johor, Malaysia. We took this bold step to portray our country's unique and diverse culture and heritage due to its historical landscape. It is all about celebrating diversity and educating resemblance due to the unique history we share especially in this region.
Somehow, the reveal of the costume has angered many Indonesians who claimed that the traditional culture belongs to them, and that it shouldn’t be used to represent Malaysian culture in a national competition. This is complete nonsense. The Kuda Warisan national costume is inspired by the Javanese community residing in the northern state of Johor. In the early 20th century, the migration of Javanese community through the Dutch and Japanese commerce ships in search of new land brought along its culture, including this unique dance performance which is performed at merry occasions. In 1971, the ministry tourism of Johor acknowledged the Kuda Kepang dance for the Javanese community there, as a symbolic sign of unity and diversity in culture for the Johor people. With a strong historical resemblance, the origin of the Javanese cultural heritage is spread across in the northern state of Johor, Perak and Selangor in Malaysia, and Singapore.
Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thankfulness of allowing the Kuda Warisan to be presented in the recent National Costume Competition, as a Malaysian Chinese myself, a minority, I'm so proud of my country which truly embracing DIFFERENCES.
Cheer for MGI, Cheer for Malaysia.
Thanks and Best Regards
XXXX XXX SENG
Penang, Malaysia
My name is XXXX XXX SENG, from Malaysia. I am the owner of Youtube channel seng12900. First, I would like to congratulate MGI for showing us such a grand pageant, I'm enjoying every moment of it.
Second, the purpose I'm writing this message because recently Malaysia is attacking by Indonesia. Many Indonesians have expressed their dissatisfaction on the social media accounts of my country Malaysia and our Queen Sanjeda John. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify myself:-
Malaysia is a multinational country. No specific costume for Malaysia since we are multi-racial country consisting of Malays, Chinese, Indians and many other natives such as Sakai in Peninsular Malaya, Kadasan and others in Sabah and Sarawak. Each race has its own costume. Since we Malaysian lives with so many races,to my opinion, it is fair to say all the races costume here are the national costume including Javanese who lives in Malaysia.
We acknowledged that the costume was inspired by the Javanese community in Johor, Malaysia. We took this bold step to portray our country's unique and diverse culture and heritage due to its historical landscape. It is all about celebrating diversity and educating resemblance due to the unique history we share especially in this region.
Somehow, the reveal of the costume has angered many Indonesians who claimed that the traditional culture belongs to them, and that it shouldn’t be used to represent Malaysian culture in a national competition. This is complete nonsense. The Kuda Warisan national costume is inspired by the Javanese community residing in the northern state of Johor. In the early 20th century, the migration of Javanese community through the Dutch and Japanese commerce ships in search of new land brought along its culture, including this unique dance performance which is performed at merry occasions. In 1971, the ministry tourism of Johor acknowledged the Kuda Kepang dance for the Javanese community there, as a symbolic sign of unity and diversity in culture for the Johor people. With a strong historical resemblance, the origin of the Javanese cultural heritage is spread across in the northern state of Johor, Perak and Selangor in Malaysia, and Singapore.
Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thankfulness of allowing the Kuda Warisan to be presented in the recent National Costume Competition, as a Malaysian Chinese myself, a minority, I'm so proud of my country which truly embracing DIFFERENCES.
Cheer for MGI, Cheer for Malaysia.
Thanks and Best Regards
XXXX XXX SENG
Penang, Malaysia