Performing Cultures, Negotiating Identities: The Cultural Politics of Indigenous Cultural Villages in West Malaysia
Cai Yunci Institute of Archaeology University College London
Presentation Outline • Who are the Orang Asli communities? • Indigenous cultural villages in West Malaysia: • Government-funded at Carey Island Mah Meri Cultural Village • Community-initiated Orang Seletar Cultural Centre at Johor Bahru • Cultural politics of indigenous cultural villages • Heritage dissonance: whose heritage is it? • When rotong-goyong meets commodification • ‘Old’ culture versus ‘new’ culture: does it matter?
Who are the Orang Asli communities? • Earliest known inhabitants of West Malaysia • Constitute 0.6% of the population in West Malaysia • Considered a minority in the prominently Malay-Muslim Malaysian society • Classified into 18 ethnic sub-groups under 3 categories of Negritos, Senoi and Proto-Malays • Under the pressure of assimilation and integration by the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) under the guise of development and eradicating poverty
Indigenous Cultural Villages in West Malaysia
Mah Meri Cultural Village, Carey Island, Selangor
Orang Seletar Cultural Centre, Johor Bahru
Mah Meri Communities • Known as Bersisi by early researchers • One of the subgroups of Senoi • Resides in Selangor Mainland and Carey Island • Ancestors were mainly fishermen and mangrove hunter-gathers • Community now undertake small-scale sedentary agriculture and waged labour as a source of livelihood
Mah Meri Cultural Village • Both a traditional museum and a cultural theme park • Exhibition gallery with content drawn from the Orang Asli museums • Cultural tours with re-enactment of Mah Meri cultures and traditions
Mah Meri Cultural Performances • Two styles of main Jo’oh dance forms from 1900s • “Conscious forgetting” of acculturated joget style performed in the Malay language • Revivalism of indigenous Jo’oh style sung in the traditional Bersisi language • Revivalism of indigenous Jo’oh as a means to reassert the Mah Meri identity against the hegemonic Malay identity
Orang Seletar Communities • Known as sea gypsies, sea nomads or Orang Laut • Historically served in the Malay Sultanates to preserve the security and sovereignty of the Malay kingdoms in the Malay Peninsula and the Riau-Lingga archipelago • But roles diminished with diminishing power of the Malay Sultanates at the onset of European colonial powers in the region
Orang Seletar Cultural Performances • Orang Seletar cultural performances evolve with time • Spoke of their current lives in the 21st century Malaysia, and a sense of community spirit and resilience to cope with the raft of changes they experienced through the years • Songs written and dance movements choreographed by a musically-talented Orang Seletar man
Heritage Dissonance: Whose Heritage is it? • Mah Meri lack the absolute authority to represent their cultural heritage • Assert their own interpretation of their cultural heritage • Take on a more conservative view of culture
• Orang Seletar absolute authority to represent and showcase their cultural heritage • More interested to understand how they are being perceived by others • More willing to embrace the concept of an evolving cultural heritage.
Orang Seletar Cultural Centre • Recognise others’ account of their cultural heritage Ivan Pouluin’s photographic account of Orang Seletar communities • Narratives framed in personal stories using personal pronouns • Focus on pride of communities and dynamism of their cultural heritage
Heritage Dissonance: Whose Heritage is it? Mah Meri Cultural Village
Orang Seletar Cultural Centre
• Take on a conservative perspective on their cultural heritage to assert their rights to their own cultural heritage and identity, and reject others’ representation of their cultural heritage
• Full agency and authority over the representation of their cultural heritage tend to take on a more dynamic perspective of their own cultural heritage and are more open to learn about the different perspectives on their cultural heritage
When Rotong-goyong meets Commodification • Orang Seletar communities culture as an end in itself and have agency over the representation of their cultural heritage • More successful in instrumentalising cultural heritage for their developmental needs • Mah Meri communities culture as a means to an end of economic uplifting • Commoditisation of cultural heritage • Undermines community efforts in collective self-determination.
‘Old’ culture versus ‘New’ culture: Does it matter? • Politicisation of cultural heritage can further marginalise the indigenous communities if they are not extended the full agency and authority to represent and interpret their own cultural heritage • Focus on a fossilised form of cultural heritage, as opposed to a dynamic form of culture impede the indigenous communities’ ability and capacities to innovate to cope with the challenges posed by urbanisation and modernity
‘Old’ culture versus ‘New’ culture: Does it matter? Social and community values of cultural heritage It is indigenous communities’ ability to adhere to unchanging social values of community spirit and solidarity manifested in their community pride and identity, while adopting a dynamic view of their cultural heritage that will guide the indigenous communities through the challenges of modernity and urbanisation.
Thank You Email:
[email protected] Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/research/cai
