Another reason for Indonesians to get mad: Khir Toyo's tempe beauty secret

Just a quick update on the current affairs.

In the NST there's this article on a Facebook page which calls for Indonesians to stand up against Malaysia for allegedly stealing their heritage.

This is what was written on the page (roughly)

Kepada semua tenaga kerja Indonesia di Malaysia,

Jangan memasak makanan tradisi Indonesia
Jangan mengajar tarian tradisi Indonesia
Jangan menyanyi lagu tradisi Indonesia.

I'm all for freedom of speech and of thought, but this has got to be the most ridiculous xenophobic call ever!

I would pay some money the day I hear this conversation in my kitchen.

Mak: Tini, nanti kamu goreng tempe sikit ye.
Tini: Ngaaa maoooooo!!!!!!!

Frankly, I can understand their anger, but the anger has been vented way out of proportion by their media.

I mean, I myself am a Minang decent. My mother's parents came from the Bukittinggi area in the late 40's. I am also a Javanese decent. My great-grandparents on my father's side came in the early 20 century. So I'm like the second or third generation to be born here.

Sure, I can speak strands of Javanese words, I can try to imitate the Minang accent, but I am neither here nor there. I am not Javanese or Minang enough to call myself as such, nor am I too far away from my heritage to shy away from them.

I can understand the Indonesians being angry because frankly I am quite pissed with those people in Negri Sembilan who call themselves as Minang. One quick visit to the Minang Heritage Museum in Padang Panjang, and you'll know that their version of Minang has deviated much from the original Minang.

But it is quite understandable, as they came to the Peninsular 400 years back. Some alterations here and there are bound to happen anyway. Which is why I believe that the Indonesians' anger has been exponentiated ridiculously. I mean, it's not the Malaysians' fault if the Rasa Sayang song was brought into Malaysia by the Indonesians themselves when they came to Malaysia. So was Batik. Okay the Pendet thing was all the Hong Kong people's fault for not doing their homework.

But at the same time, these were all stuff that existed even before there were such terms as Indonesian or Malaysian. Weren't we all the people of Nusantara? Plus it's not like the Indonesians didn't take anything when they return back to Indonesia. Their Es Kombinasi looks suspiciously similar to our ABC. You can fool anyone else with your Martabak Mesir, but we Malaysians know that it's just plain Murtabak. And why do you call your Roti Canai as Martabak? It's so confusing.

But us Malaysians, we are not without guilt. We tend to see Indonesians as second class people, slave like even. Just because they're lagging socioeconomically does not make them any less human. Just because some Indonesian workers commit crime does not make the whole 250 million population criminals. We have got to stop the prejudice in our society. Plus for those who cry their lungs and livers out for Malay unity, the next time you insult an Indonesian, please remember that you're spitting into your own mouth.