AMID the pleasant celebratory voices in the Merdeka month, I was recently drawn to another kind of vocal din over the wearing of an Indian wedding dress by a Malay artiste as part of her promotional efforts. Cultural appropriation was the cause of the brouhaha, it seemed.
As an Anak Malaysia, I never really understood those two words.
I was really nonplussed over the need to make such stinging barbs or stark differentiations for we had been interchanging or "borrowing" our cultural appendages in fashion, food or language among ourselves for ages!
I was told that cultural appropriation happens when somebody adopts aspects of a culture that are not their own.
To split hairs, someone said a deeper understanding of cultural appropriation refers to a particular power dynamic where members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.
Certainly, it gets a little heady here. For the sake of sanity, let's set our minds on the fact that such "borrowings" are actually cultural appreciation. It's like we wouldn't want to adopt certain things if we didn't like them anyway. Take nasi lemak. We wouldn't consume it if we didn't like it, would we?
Or devour rava thosai and the accompanying spicy dhal if we didn't think they're not any good. And what about the Hainan chicken rice that Malay restaurateurs are increasingly featuring on their menu?
When I was small, I always heard of elders casually talking of "wearing a Hawaiian shirt". Back then, it meant wearing a somewhat floral or colourful short-sleeved shirt where you didn't have to tuck it in.
But then the people of Hawaii didn't even tell us to stop wearing those locally-made shirts that well-suited our hot weather.
Talking about donning shirts, have we forgotten what the late Datuk Sudirman Haji Arshad used to do when he performed on stage and with RTM decades ago? He wasn't averse to using clothes from other races for his skits although he was always the epitome of the Malay gentleman in his cool Baju Melayu. Such was his deep sense of cultural appreciation.
And Sudirman wasn't bashful in using the Jalur Gemilang to full advantage either whenever he performed during Merdeka. As we celebrate our coming of independence, it's best to free our minds from the shackles of narrow-mindedness.
Like it or not, Malaysia will always be a multiracial and multi-cultural nation although from out of the blue, some aspiring politicians may try to stir up dirt and get onto the pinnacle of race-based politics. It's an easy route to fame but its dangers are ruinous for our nation's unity.
For that, I'm excited over the bold move taken by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to open up Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which started off as a Malay-based political party, to other races as well.
While his detractors may deride that his suggestion smacks of political survival, Muhyiddin's vision of a multiracial Bersatu certainly embodies its very name — united!
For someone who had said he is a Malay first by virtue of being proud of his own ethnicity, his latest proposal should make people sit up and laud its far-reaching boldness. It certainly opens up a new chapter in our beloved country's political history.
As we look towards this new chapter, let's not let differences divide us. Let's celebrate those differences and enhance our ability to recognise, accept, and celebrate those differences.
Certainly, what former United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan had said: "We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race" — should ring strongly inside us.
Cultural appropriation? Certainly, it shouldn't be so. The recent war of words over the Indian garb by a Malay artiste was really a storm in a teacup. Let's push for increasing cultural appreciation and make Malaysia greater!
The writer is a former chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of Bernama