Batik in two years last has become controversial. As long as this, we only know if Batik coming from Indonesia but how Malaysia could claim it (read paragraph three). Let me tell you the truth history about Batik in Indonesia. Batik spread and made of by Javanese ethnic in 17th, 18th and 19th Century in Java Island, Indonesia. In fact at the first time batik only uses by the Nobleman or the Kingdom family but because of the change cultural civilization batik could used by everyone. For the example, Batik in Yogyakarta has known since the Mataram Monarchy led by Panembahan Senopati and then distribute to their servant and soldier. Their batik using “Sidomukti” and “Sidoluruh” pattern and it is so beautiful.
In the colonialism era, well known as Diponegoro battle against the Netherlands, make batik spread as long as Indonesia area because of that new variant of Batik appears. It is happened in 18th century. The Batik sample are combination Solo batik and Yogya Batik, Mojokerto batik, Tulungagung batik, Gresik, Surabaya, and Madura batik in eastern of Java, and Western Java Batik are well known in Banyumas, Pekalongan, Tegal and Cirebon.
Now maybe the reader will be asking how Malaysia claims it. Malaysian claims if Batik come from their country caused they are not realize if Indonesian brings batik first time come to their country. Indonesian brings batik to Malaysia to be sold there and some of them become the Malaysian citizen that is why there is Batik in Malaysia. So we could conclude that Indonesian bring influence so big to this country especially in clothes and cultural. If Malaysian said that is wrong, I could give evidence. What is the evidence? The evidence is the ex of Prime Minister of Malaysia " Abdullah Ahmad Badawi" in fact is Indonesian caused his grandpa from Indonesia. Don’t you believe it? Just ask him.
Batik Truth the Indonesia, not Malaysia!
11 comments:
Indonesia is well-known for developing batik but does batik originate from Indonesia? Search 'batik origin' and you'll find that the batik technique exists even as far as Africa.
Oh and by the way please do not confuse 'Indonesian' with 'Javanese', 'Bugis' etc. Indonesian is a nationality, not an ethnicity. Also, where did you get the info that Badawi's grandfather came from Indonesia? Kindly link it to me.
caused MR. Abdullah Badawi's grandpa is buginese and I'm buginese too. He is a member of Makassar Buginese forum businessman. Sorry if this make you confuse and angry. I'm really very sorry. You right talking that is different between Indonesia and ethnic. But as Indonesian I try to increase my nationality by talking I'm Indonesian caused buginese and javanese is Indonesian ethnic.
LOL. what a very short minded post!of course the javanese and some other Nusantara ethnics brought batics to Tanah Melayu, which is now Peninsular Malaysia!Even most of us Malays are originated from there!
As a Malay and Malaysian, I agree that Batik originated from the Javanese culture. Bacj then, there was no "Indonesia" nor "Malaysia". There was only a vast land with several denominations kingdoms and sultanates namely the Majapahit, Melaka, Kedah, Acheh and so on.
These people back then could travel anywhere. There was no Immigration and Nationality as it is today. Thus, people from these Islands (now Indonesia) migrated to Tanah Melayu and brought along with them their cultures.
But now, there has been "Malaysia" and "Indonesia" as two separate Nations with much similar cultures. Thus, if Indonesians have batik, so do Malaysians!
But the fact is this. The batik that is being promoted vigorously by the Malaysian Tourism Board is Malaysian Batik because it is designed intricately by Malaysians and made by Malaysians companies. We never claimed batik "originated" from Malaysia!
In fact, our batik now is so much different than that of Indonesian - Javanese batik design. Our design motifs are more towards floral prints, rather than designs related to any Hindu ancient scripts. And mostly we use satin, linen or even silk to made our batik, compared to Indonesian batik which is based on cotton.
If you claim that batik originated from Indonesia, then you are right. But we Malaysians too have our right upon our own Malaysian Batik, which is very distinctive compared to Indonesian Batik.
for further information on Batik Malaysia you can visit this website:
http://www.noor-arfa.com.my/noor/index.php
Noor Arfa has been the frontline in promoting Batik Malaysia, with their modern and elegant touch on batik.They are also now the biggest batik manufacturer in Malaysia.
You can see how different it is Batik Malaysia compared to Batik Jawa.
This is what we are promoting in the international level, not the Batik Jawa! And we are so proud with our own batik!
Thanks for your explanation. I think I'm agree with that! If you said at the time still there is no Nation like today.
There appears to be a misconception as to who owns culture. My opinion is that culture belongs to the PEOPLE. "Culture" describes the many ways in which human beings express themselves for the purposes of uniting with others, forming a group and defining an identity.
Very often "culture" is spread by colonialism, by conquest, by migration, by religious propogation and so on.
What is Malaysian culture ? What is Indonesian culture ? It what the people have created or adopted as being their own.
An key example of culture in Indonesia and Malaysia is the language now identified as Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia, which was originally spoken in Riau. In fact, Riau Malay is regarded as the purest form of the Malay language and the Malay spoken in Riau is very similar to Bahasa Malaysia.
There was some discussion with regards to the song "Rasa Sayang" almost 2 years ago.
Even the satay, which Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all lay claim to as the origin, it's actual origin was that it was developed from the Indian kebab brought by the Muslim traders.
Malaysians are proud of the fact that Malaysia is truly a microcosm of all of Asia, a claim that we make because of the many different peoples who have settled in our country from all over Asia bringing their culture with them, in the form of cuisines, languages, dances, songs, and even norms and beliefs.
Likewise, Indonesia is a microcosm of different civilisations, and has adopted the Ramayana and Mahabarata together with Siam (Thailand), Cambodia and many other parts of the world. And even the wayang kulit had made its way to find a home in Malaysia, originating from Siam (although some say it came from Java).
The angklung, of course came from Java, but is now commonly found in Philippines,Thailand and Malaysia. I understand that today the bagpipes are known to be ethnic to Scotland, but actually it was popular in several other parts of the world before it became part of Scottish culture.
Batik is said to be an ancient art that has been handed down for thousands of years. It is said to be widespread in the Middle East, Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Philippines, India and more (including Birmingham, UK!). Malaysian batik is distinctively different from Indonesian batik, is famous for its geometrical designs, such as spirals and clearly different from the Javanese tradition of hand-painted batiks.
The Kuda Kepang is a dance form that was first introduced in Johor, in the southern part of the Malaysian peninsula, in the early 20th century by Javanese immigrants. The captivating Tarian Piring and the upbeat tempo of Tarian Randai are today very much a part of the culture of Negeri Sembilan (where I have my roots), having been brought to Negeri Sembilan since over 3 centuries ago by immigrants from West Sumatra.
Indonesia's kecak dance (Bali), as we know it today, was a creation by German painter and musician, Walter Spies, who took a ritual trance dance and created it into a dance-drama, based on the Hindu Ramayana, for presentation to Western tourist audiences.
Thaipusam, a Hindu festival mostly celebrated by the Tamil community in India, Malaysia, Singapore and South Indian, is celebrated at the world-renowned Batu Caves in Malaysia, with millions coming to watch the spectacle every year.
The Hungry Ghost Festival is an event in Penang where the Chinese celebrate to remember their dead family members and pay tribute to them. The belief and tradition was brought from ancient China by traders and other settlers from China.
These are ALL part of Malaysian culture, as much as the Ramayana is part of Indonesian culture, the angklung is part of Philippines culture and batik is part of African culture !
I end with two quotes from Mahtama Gandhi:
"No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive." and
"A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people."
Im Indonesian, and proud to be one. Yet i have to agree with some of the above posters. I have been feeling that Indonesia has been very passive in promoting our own culture. We are sitting on a pile of richess. yet, we do nothing of it.
If Malysia wants to promote and claim their Malaysian batik internationally, thats perfectly ok. As mentioned above, we share a common background, and as we live in the same geographical area, cultural diffusion is/was bound to happen.
The problem i see is not Malaysia claiming batik or whatever else as their own. If it has been part of their culture for hundreds or thousands of years then they have the right to do so. But the problem lies within Indonesia's passiveness.
If, for example, indonesia sits idle and lets another nation promotes the keris internationally, and as a result, people associate the keris with that nation. What do we do with our keris that we've been sitting idle on?
Indonesia has to understand that a lot of culture has been exchanged for years and years throughout the world. If we sit idle and let another nation be distinguished for something that we also own, then there's no moving forward.
to the proud anonymous
gee.. i was once kinda amazed how you explain malaysian batik, and by the time i see the site u referred..
damn it's true
it's so different from javanese batik.. in fact malaysian batik (as u proclaim) is sooo simple, not detailed at all, it's just like plain sheet with big stamp here and there. where's the intricacies & sophistication??
(and what the heck of that big soccer ball motive??is that halloween costumes??how degrading..)
well, u can keep ur so called "malaysian batik" yes it's from java, and u could never even get close to it..
btw talking about material, we indeed use satin,silk as well.. (oh please!)
The name batik is probably an Indonesian creation. But the "batik" cloth is most probably invented by the Chinese, who called it "Laran" dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD). Batik (the technique) was probably introduced into the Malay Archipelago through Chinese traders. Similarly, the Japanese also have the same technique called "Rozome" which dates to among the same time as the Japanese.
Point to ponder; all the techniques above use fabric namely silk and cotton. Indonesia does not have silk and cotton fabric production history up until only a few hundred years ago.
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