Barongan: A New Face of Reog Ponorogo

My third post on this blog is about "Dispute on Rasa Sayange" that comes up colouring the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia lately. Again, this week, almost the same dispute comes up when one of the official website of Malaysian Govermental Agency releases a clip containing a video about a cultural show "Barongan" which is claimed as one of the Malaysian cultural heritage. However, the clip very much looks like a "Reog Ponorogo" which is widely known as an original cultural property and pride from the city of Ponorogo, East Java, Indonesia.

To most of us, the people of Indonesia, the claim is just like a cultural harrashment and an immoral action. Moreover, this claim is coming up after series of claims starting from claim on Rasa Sayange, batik, angklung, and even claim on Ambalat and some other ashaming claims. As a one and a same anchestor neighboring country, the claim is indeed very insulting. It's a kind of hard to believe if the Malaysian side doesn't know about this, even some speculate that the action is very possibly intended to provoke Indonesia. In the case of Barongan which very much looks like a Reog Ponorogo, even several Ponorogoan people admit that they can clearly identify that the main tools of Barongan (the giant musk) which is shown in the clip is very possibly also a product of Ponorogo. There are some specific characteristics on the musk that indicate that it is a product of Ponorogo. However, such a claim should also be well proven, rather than only-spoken. If this is true, then, the Malaysian claim becomes more and more insulting.

Fortunately, the government of Ponorogo (East Java Province) has officially patented their Reog. So, lawsuit procedures could be well processed further. However, again lesson can be well learned from this happening. The tremendous and huge number of cultural inheritance should not only be proud of, but need to be well and properly managed. There is no other way to appreciate our own culture and our anchestor who have derivated the precious culture from one generation to another, but a full attention and serious management. Unless, all the cultural inheritance will become a foreign culture in its own birth-land. Let's start from ourselves. I Love Indonesia.

Dispute on "Rasa Sayange"

Very recently, and even up to this moment, the dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia on the ownership of a folk song entitled "Rasa Sayange" has been dominating the issues released by almost all of the Indonesian neswpapers/magazines. The dispute starts when Malaysia through its Tourism Ministry uses the folk song as one of a "jingle" song on their tourism promotion. At the same time, Indonesia feels that the song has illegally been used by Malaysia as the song is widely known as one of the folk song owned by Indonesia which is originated from Maluku (Ambon).

This sort of dispute is not the first time since some years before Malaysia has also claimed that Batik is part of their intelectual property by putting it as their patent. So, no doubt if the dispute on "Rasa Sayange" by magnitute becomes more serious and attracts attention not only from the Government of Indonesia, but also from most of Indonesian citizens. Protest in a form of strike has widely been performed by students and other groups of Indonesian citizens to show their dislikeness on the behavior of Malaysia, specifically for easily claiming things that are not theirs.

Talking and discussing this issue is a kind of interesting activity lately. This is not merely for mocking and making a joke on the Malaysia side, but also for critically critisizing the weaknesses and the very bad behavior of Indonesia in managing its huge and tremendeous number of intellectual and cultural property. A friend of mine (thanks Mr. Suryo Susilo) gave me a good analogy on this. In the context above, he metaphorized the current Indonesia situation as a rich person who just got a very huge inharitance from his ancestor which is mostly regarded as out of date inharitance (warisan barang usang), so that Indonesia put them all in the back yard without trying to document them in an administratively right manner. When somebody else then silently and unknownly makes use of the unused inharitance, then Indonesia starts yielling "that's mine, that's mine..., that's my property!" without any ability to prove that they truly belong to Indonesia. Oh.. poor Indonesia, of course.

This happening should be a good lesson to Indonesia, and of course, for all of us also, especially to "do business" in the upcoming future. We, Indonesia, is a very rich country, not only in the terms of natural resources, but also in the terms of intellectual and cultural property. We need to be very smart and with correct strategy in managing the whole property we have. There are a bunch of things to do to deal with that issue. Tempe, Rasa Sayange, Angklung, Batik, Sipadan, and Ligitan have already gone from us. Of course, we do not want that in the future Pecel, Musik Keroncong, Kuda Lumping, Gamelan, Lontong Sayur, Ketoprak, Reog Ponorogo, Ludruk, Island of Kalimantan, and Island of Natuna, Ambalat, and so on... following them to go from us and belong to them. Because, they all are truly ours.

Just to be to the point, we need to encourage all the related government institutions to work properly on what they have to do. Never do something after things have already happened, but do something before things happen. I believe we have all what we need to do that, human resources, natural resources, intellectual resources, and almost everything is on us. The key word to deal with all of these is a "management", a "proper management". Besides, we as part of the citizen, need to work more carefully, without too much dependent to the role of the government. Just do what we can do. I love Indonesia. (14/11/2007)