Best way to preserve our culture is by sharing them

A Malay actress who wowed her fans with photos and videos of herself in an Indian outfit and accessories to promote her coloured contact lens was forced to apologise on Twitter recently when she was accused of cultural appropriation.

According to those who criticised her, it was wrong for a Malay woman to adorn herself in Indian cultural clothing and profiting off it when an actual Indian woman wearing the same clothing would not be received in the same manner.

I was quite dumbfounded reading numerous articles on the matter in different media as well as Facebook posts. My first thought was: “Why is it wrong for a Malay woman to dress in an Indian costume when it is acceptable for an Indian woman to dress in a Malay costume?”

A friend gave me a simple explanation, a 101 on culture appropriation. She said: “Imagine a black woman who is discriminated against for her braided hair, so much so she has to straighten her hair or put on a wig in order to fit into her society and be accepted.

“Now imagine a white woman who braids her hair as a fashion and goes around town simply to look cool. Can you see why the white woman braiding her hair can be accused of cultural appropriation?”

The first thing which came to my mind upon hearing the explanation was my own experience wearing “thanakar”.

Thanakar is a Burmese traditional cosmetic made from ground bark. It is made into a yellowish paste and applied on the face to protect the skin from sunlight and to keep skin feeling cool. This cosmetic has been used for many generations and is a distinctive feature of Myanmar's culture

Am I guilty of cultural appropriation?

At the time, I was working as a media trainer in Yangon and was consulting a group of Burmese journalists. I thought it was cool to wear thanakar on my face. Honestly, it wasn’t about me appreciating their tradition or anything like that, I just thought it would be a great experience (plus it would make good photos).

During the course of the training, we produced a few stories on how Burmese women were discriminated against in the workplace due to thanakar. According to these women, they were either informed during job interviews that those who wear thanakar will not be accepted, or if they were already employed, warned to stop wearing thanakar or else risk losing their jobs.

Like the black women who were discriminated against for their hair in my friend’s explanation, the Burmese women were discriminated against for their thanakar. And if that is the case, would I then be accused of cultural appropriation for wearing the thanakar for “fun”, just like the white woman who braided her hair to look cool?

Oddly, none of the Burmese people I was working with was offended about me wearing thanakar. Instead, every time I was leaving Yangon after each series of training, they would give me ample supplies of thanakar to bring home. For them, there is no such thing as cultural appropriation, for they were genuinely happy to share their tradition and culture with me.

Malaysians are becoming snowflakes

Unfortunately back home in this so-called melting pot of cultures and traditions, we seem to have a big issue with sharing. We are becoming a bunch of snowflakes who get easily offended for no reason.

Last year, I posted on Facebook a photograph of my favourite all-time snack, kuih peniaram bought from a Malay aunty at a night market in Kulim. Kuih peniaram is a sweet, crispy, deep-fried snack made of rice flour and palm sugar.

While some of my friends were excited to know the location of the night market, some ended up accusing the Malays of “stealing” something belonging to the Indians.

“Stop calling it peniaram. This is adhirasam, and it originated from South India. The Malays should stop claiming everything to be their own!” one comment from an Indian friend read and quickly others who agreed joined the bandwagon.

They were not open to explanations from some who pointed out that peniaram is also a traditional snack with a different name in Sabah, Sarawak and also Brunei. Instead, they insisted that the Malays selling kuih peniaram should credit the snack to its Indian origin.

Wait, what?

If a Malay aunty selling a snack originating from India has to make such declaration or else be accused of trying to profit off the Indian tradition, shouldn’t Pavithra the YouTube queen who posted a chicken rendang video on her channel, earning her more than 180 000 views, also be accused of profiting off the Malay culture?

Cultural appropriation versus cultural exchange

Cultural appropriation happens when a dominant culture (the most accepted culture within a particular society) takes things from another culture that is experiencing oppression. In Malaysia, there is no dominant culture oppressing any non-dominant culture.

What is happening in Malaysia is cultural exchange, which is quite different from cultural appropriation. Things shared between different cultures like we do in Malaysia aren’t cultural appropriation because they do not involve power or deal with oppressions.

We live in the 21st century where different cultures (dominant and non-dominant cultures) come together on equal footing, sharing and exchanging the culture and tradition of one another. This should be celebrated and not be seen as something negative.

Borrowing from other cultures and making it our own should be the way to go. Let the Malays wear lehenga, saree, pavadai and kurta. Let the Indians make rendang, lemang and ketupat. Let the Chinese wear kain pelikat and songkok. Let our dominant culture be the Malaysian culture. After all, that is the only culture that matters, no?

We must stop guarding our cultures and traditions claiming to be protecting them. Cultures and traditions don't need protection, it only needs preserving. And the best way to preserve them is by sharing and exchanging in a modern, multicultural society like ours.

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a director, a struggling producer, a photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot. - Mkini

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of us.