Regional politicians are using disputes over cultural heritage to score domestic political points
Politicians and political leaders in Southeast Asia have gone to great lengths to demonstrate their ignorance about culture and history in their efforts to rake up political points with their respective publics. Along the way they put their own countries on a crash course with their neighbours who have similar cultural characteristics and practices.
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have gone through several rounds of argument over the ownership of dances, songs and other traditional arts such as shadow puppetry. The list goes on, including even Hainanese chicken and rice.
Thailand has had problems with its neighbours as well. Every now and then these issues make it onto the public and diplomatic forums, where officials stubbornly claim ownership over some cultural practices, or arts and crafts.
Some commentators appear to be totally ignorant of history while others are just looking for a way to score quick political points. There have been times when such incidents have turned violent, such as the allegation a few years ago from some quarters in Cambodia that a Thai celebrity had said the great Angkor Wat was once part of Thailand. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, looking to score a quick political advantage, gave the allegation some weight. The end result was an anti-Thai riot that resulted in the torching of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, as well as a number of Thai-owned hotels and business establishments in other parts of Cambodia.
But politicians never seem to learn from these incidents. While stubbornly claiming exclusivity of this or that, appointed cultural officials have never really sat down with one another to go over these claims. If they were to do so, they might come to the conclusion that we have more in common, and that there has always been a lot of borrowing back and forth.
In the final analysis, the cultural characteristics of ancient civilisations do not fit nicely in the context of modern nation-states because the current political borders are a relatively recent thing. The inability to claim exclusivity over a lot of things doesn't mean they will be out of a job. It just means that they have to be more open-minded about such issues.
But that appears to be wishful thinking when one considers the recent statement from a Thai minister.
The newly appointed culture minister, Sukumol Kunplome, has said that her first mission in office will be to reclaim for Thailand recognised ownership of a graceful hand gesture called the jeeb - part of traditional dance and shadow plays, both of which have been officially listed as part of the cultural heritage of Cambodia. The jeeb hand position has the thumb and index finger touching, and the three other fingers fanned out.
In 2008, Cambodia had Sbek thom, or Khmer shadow theatre, included on Unesco's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, along with the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, also known as Khmer Classical Dance. The listings incorporate graceful hand gestures, including the jeeb hand position.
If we think this is a headache, just wait until muay Thai - or muay Lao in Laos, or pradal serey in Khmer, and lethwei in Burmese - make their way onto the list of things to be argued about.
Instead of rushing to Unesco to claim ownership over this or that - or huff and puff when our neighbours do so first - perhaps the best way to go about this is to acknowledge the similarities. This job should not be exclusively reserved for politicians but for historians, artists and craftsmen as well.
Cambodia's proposal of the jeeb to the Unesco List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will not affect Thailand's right to register this facet of our culture. In fact, if we look at the Malay and Indonesian dances, there is a jeeb in those every now and then.
Such registration is intended to describe each country's uniqueness. But why is it so hard to admit that these are the very things that unite us, not make us different?
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