NORMAN: We understand why some people are upset over this

The promo clip — which contained footage of dancers doing the Pendet — sparked a massive outrage among Indonesian media, artists and citizens, with Malaysia being accused of attempting to stake claim over the traditional Indonesian dance.

Indonesian TV news segment, Metro Hari Ini, claimed the video was off a Malaysia, Truly Asia 2009 advertisement by Tourism Malaysia.

However, the video was in actual fact only a promo clip by Discovery Channel, and contrary to what the Indonesian news channel had claimed.

“The promo ad was done by a third-party supplier, hired by Discovery Channel, and not by us,” Norman told Malay Mail yesterday.

“We only produced the documentaries. In fact, we only just came to know about the commercial after the controversy was highlighted.”

Norman also said the footage in the commercial was not taken off his documentaries. The Enigmatic Malaysia series comprises six documentaries, namely, The Malaccan Portuguese — Preserving Their Heritage, Bajau Laut — Nomads of The Sea, Keris — The Myth & The Magic, Kellie’s Castle — Myth & Mystery, Malaysian Batik and Wau.

Norman also said the documentary Malaysian Batik had contained clips of a traditional Javanese dance as part of the explanation how the Malaysian batik had evolved historically from its Java origins.

“There was no ill-intent in the portrayal of the Javanese dance in the documentary. It was only to show how batik originated from Java,” said Norman, who added that the traditional Javanese dance in his documentary was not similar to the Balinese Pendet dance.

He said the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia and a representative of the Indonesian culture ministry met up with him yesterday to seek clarification on the claims, and both had understood the situation.

“The representative of the Indonesian culture ministry verified that the Javanese dance in Malaysian Batik was not similar to the Pendet.”

On Monday night, Norman made a clarification on Indonesian television station TVOne. He said he is not blaming anyone for the controversy, which resulted in the Indonesian outrage — attributing it to a complete misunderstanding by the Indonesian media.

“If the situation had been reversed, and Indonesians were staking a claim on something that’s originally Malaysian, it is only natural if Malaysians become upset over it. So I understand why some people are upset over this.”

Enigmatic Malaysia is currently aired on the Discovery Channel.

The episode, The Malaccan Portuguese — Preserving Their Heritage, won the Sarasvati Award 5th Special Jury Prize at, ironically, the 6th Bali International Film Festival 2008.

Malaysia to warn Pendet ad creator

“They [Malaysia] have pledged to reprimand the production house as the advertisement creator,” Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik was quoted by Antara news agency yesterday.

During yesterday’s meeting, Jero added, the Malaysian representatives admitted the advertisement was made by a private production house and had no association with official government tourism programmes.

“Malaysia also confessed to a lack of monitoring [of the firm],” he said.

The ministry has sent a note of protest to Malaysia to ask for clarification, while the Discovery Channel has promised to stop airing the promo. — The Jakarta Post