No Shaolin Here Please!

A post by 中国的另一端 (Winner of China Blog Awards 2007 - Best News Blog) caught my attention this couple of days. Look at the photo nicely cropped out "Mr.Viceroy of Xinjiang". The post is about an archaelogical site in Tuva. Its in regard to what Tuvans will do to an excavation site found near Lake Tere-Khol. Here is what quoted from The Opposite End China:

The site is being excavated and renovated with hopes that it can become a lucrative tourist attraction for a very remote part of Russia populated mostly by ethnic Tuvans. Sergei Shoigu, who is a native Tuvan and holds the fantastic title of Russian Minister for Extraordinary Situations, said:

"We shall build there a Russian Shaolin and invite everybody to come there. And our youth will come I am sure. They will learn philosophy, Tibetan medicine, horseracing, and oriental martial arts in there."

Madness, this is a treasure for the Russians! Not to be used for commercial purpose dude. Imagine the amount of information buried within this fortress. There could be leads to how life is for one of the four brother who ventured out of China since Yuan Dynasty belongs Mr. Khan himself. The fortress itself in the middle of of lake should be something of research value on how such a project is carried out by people of the past, especially to a bunch who ride on horses.

Of course, there are also people perhaps against such ideas, quoted from Tuva-Online:

In Tuva itself an attitude to these great plans is not unanimously positive. Tuvan scientists are afraid of the improper restoration works substituted by new construction. Ordinary people think that the fortress become a visit place of only rich people as not any would be able to afford a air flight to the place.

My Tuvans, if you ever gonna do something, please don't destroy something of such values. Let's put it this way. Its like asking Sharika to dance in thongs and preeching Tibetian Scriptures. You'll be a laughing stock to any cultural heritage organisation out there if its gonna be improvised. No shaolin on this fortress please!

Intangible Cultural Heritage - A new prospect for preservation of cultures in China?

Intangible Cultural Heritage is a new word in China. With it, it brought about a lot of awareness among the Chinese. We can understand it by saying such cultures are usually formless, and do not have a stationary position like buildings and relics. Rather, such cultures usually exists amidst the crowds in the forms of folklore, craftmanship, beliefs, practices, dances and performances.

China has deemed a couple of such practices into Intangible Cultural Heritage areas: beijing opera and Kun-qu, folk arts like those of bamboo carvings from Jiaoding, drum performances from Shaanxi, tea drinking practices and many more. It become a much awared activity when one visits perhaps a Beijing Opera and go woo ah and say "LOOK! This is China's Intangible Cultural Heritage!" Yes, more people have become aware of such. The Chinese are proud of what they have, took pride in it, start to respect, and many become more prone to protect such treasures.

What I like to point out is that are such treasures more important, or the name Intangible Cultural Heritage that made them important? What if let say traditional paper cutting is not protected at all, will people be so much concerned in preserving this form of fork art running in the society? Will people just say, "eh no point, will not earn money, nobody wish to upkeep such traditions, let's do something that will earn more money..".. Such thoughts make me wonder which is more important, the branding or really the tradition.

Of course, for those old practioners and loyalists to any specific form of art, they are at their tip top happiness. The grandma who goes to her weekly Beijing Opera chuckles happily to herself, knowing that what she enjoy will never disappear. Sweet way to gain awareness, she says.

Bai Han Lou - Tibetan-Catholic Community in Isolation

In Baihanlou, an isolated village in the Nu River Valley, located in the northwest corner of Yunnan Province, lies an isolated Tibetan-Catholic community and their long, lasting blend og religions. It is interesting to note that how this Tibetan-Catholic community has survive for so long unmolested. One could only wonder if this was a miracle worked by means unknown.

During the 1800s, French missionaries came and converted a small part of the pop in Tibet to Christianity. Baihanlou is a beautiful mountain village nestled in the foothills of the Tibetan plateau. At night, one can hear the river faintly in the distance. In this part of the world, nature and people seem uninterrupted.

Entering the centre of the village, a 130-year-old Catholic Church stood stark white from the back and sides, but the front is Chinese Pagoda style with a wooden winged tips on either side of the building darkly painted in blues and fadings reds. The Entire Village is involved in the church from birth till death - when they are not farming for their livelihood, they are praying in unison. When they are not praying, they are farming.

Entering the humble church, bare wood beams make up the basic structure of the interior. Three exposed light bulbs provides all the light needed. On the left hand side of the church are pictures of Jesus carrying his cross with Roman soldiers whipping him, to the right there are three large windows facing west. Each pillar of wood extends from the floor to the ceiling and has various carvings, some inscriptions read, "We will follow you Jesus." At the front of the church is a small and humble altar, decorated with artificial flowers in bright reds and pinks, beside it is a life-size marble statute of Virgin Mary.

Attending mass, one can notice directly how devoted the villagers are. Prayers continue almost uninterrupted, as if a perfect routine is already in place. The minister doesn't speak to or direct his flock in any way. Their prayers are in their bones, from the small children to the weather-beaten faces of the elderly, the community moves and prays together as one. They do not participate in the Vatican's strict Catholicism, but rather their own religion that part of the this community's traditions that has been passed on for generations - it is their way of life.

The villagers called themselves Catholic, but as they sit and kneel in prayer, there is nothing typically Catholic about them. The chanting, or praying, is deeply moving and incredibly unique and is combined with a small head bobbing. Every once in a while there is prostration where everyone kneels and touches their head to the ground. There are hints of Buddhism, Islam and Catholicism all wrapped up into one single mass.

And then suddenly, it all stopped.

In an orderly manner, everyone rises from the low wooden benches and exits the church. No words have been exchanged, the community seems to live in silence after they are through chanting their prayers.

A small, poor Tibetan community chanting Catholic prayers before and after a long day of farming. How had Catholicism lasted so long in such an isolated environment? But that was just it, isolation is the answer.


reading materials:
China's Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society
Religion and Biography in China and Tibet

TERRACOTTA WARRIORS INVADING LONDON SOON

The 8,000 soldiers of the terracotta army, meant to protect China’s Emperor Qin Shihuang in the afterlife, had been buried for more than 2,000 years before their discovery by farmers in 1974. Now they’re on the move again, at least some of them who are heading towards London for a major exhibition at the British Museum. The show will run for seven months, beginning on September 13, and 30,000 tickets have already been sold.

Over 120 loan objects from China's Museum of Terra-cotta Army will be shown this autumn in a major British Museum exhibition which features China's first emperor.

This loan exhibition "First Emperor: China's Terra-cotta Army", scheduled to run seven months from Sept. 13 this year to April 6 of next year, will feature the largest group of material from the tomb of the First Emperor to be loaned abroad.

This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition will explore one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century and provide an insight into China's First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, and his legacy.

Objects featured in the exhibition will include a number of the world-famous terracotta warriors from Xi'an, China, which were buried alongside the First Emperor in readiness for the afterlife, as well as some of the most striking recent discoveries made on the site.

In introducing the idea of a unified state and effectively creating China in 221 BC, the First Emperor of Qin created what is today the oldest surviving political entity in the world. How that state has survived, developed and is viewed today will be explored through events, lectures and debates around the exhibition.

















source: all images from OnAsia Images
photographer: Natalie Behring

Code of Ethics: Museum Management

Introduction

Museum management is a profession in which offers more than just a junkyard for storage of old relics in a hidden wardrobe. The concept that museum is a storage place for objects are slowly being replaced by a recreation space, research centre, knowledge centre. Museums are not just repositories. They are places where collections are interpreted for the public through exhibits and related educational programs. How museums interpret their collections changes over time with the emergence of new techniques, scholarship, and viewpoints.

In accordance, museum management must follow a code of ethics in or order to achieve their goals at the end, forming a clear and transparent voice in which the public can gain awareness to what they are doing.

Professional ethics per se consists in searching for common answers to the questions everyone encounters in his or her professional practice, notably to those questions that cannot be answered by turning to existing rules and regulations or to the general norms prevailing in the community. Professional ethics presupposes the existence of an identifiable profession, but at the same time contributes to define a profession.

Museum ethics is a form of professional ethics. Professional ethics is the offshoot of general moral norms adopted by members of the same profession, who may be identified as a group. Strictly speaking ethics is concerned with theory, which is, contemplating as to what is right and just in a given situation.

The International Council of Museums defines the museum profession under article 5 of its Statutes as consisting of 'all of the personnel of museums or related institutions who have received a specialized technical or academic training or who possess an equivalent practical experience, and who respect a fundamental code of professional ethics'. In this respect it is important to note that many codes attempt to define the museum profession by putting up a partition against closely related fields of activity with conflicting interests, such as (art) trade. Museum codes unanimously exclude art trade from the museum profession.

Summary

Set Sail and Collect like pirates
Museums must be aware that in an age where information is exploding as an accelerated level. They cannot readily without judgement increase their threshold of collections quickly.

Many museums faces financial crisis in which is due to their management of collections. Facing difficulties, one can make uncertain judgements in which affects the trusts of the public.

In United States, The Milwaukee Art Museum, the museum has at least a $20 million shortfall that is forcing it to pursue something virtually unheard of in the art world -- offering up its collection as a guarantee for a loan. In Arizona, The $1 million sale of museum artifacts by a financially troubled museum in northern Arizona is sending shock waves through Utah's own museum community and leading to concerns the same thing could happen to cash-strapped museums.

This approach would violate ethical standards of the Association of Art Museum Directors, whose published guidelines caution that "the collections a museum holds in public trust do not represent financial assets that may be converted to cash for operating or capital costs or pledged as collateral for loans."

Collections are looted internationally
The J Paul Getty Museum, one of the world's largest and best endowed art collections, faces a fresh blow to its reputation following the publication of internal documents suggesting it ignored warnings that up to half of its highest profile antiquities acquisitions were looted from ruins in Italy. Know as early as 1985.

Sellers based in Thailand and Singapore are selling parts from Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia - the two countries in South East Asia which have not been signatory to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. It is suspected that most artifacts illegally excavated by looters around Asia are transited through Singapore and Bangkok. In such, it raises controversy in which how governments could allow loopholes to take place, allowing such criminal activities to transact.

Even British Museum faces international furor in which most of their collections come from looting and plundering that took place during their Britain’s empire.

A profession has the responsibility to take the lead in setting the ethical standards by which its members are governed. The museum profession should set the example for governments, private collectors, and dealers with respect to all museum collections. This includes incorporating into museum acquisition policies the sense of such international conventions as the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property

Preservation of Collections
Preservation work in a museum is deem as the essence in which collections will sustain through time and proven a valuable asset to the public. Conservators in Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge face a huge dilemma
when a visitor tripped and fell down the stairs, smashing into three 17th century Chinese vases worth 500,000 pounds. The vases were smashed into hundreds of pieces. Conservators decided to repair the artifacts and showpiece them in relation to problems faced by museum professionals in handling exhibitions and caring of collections.

However, conservation practices vary across the world. In certain codes, restoration and conservation works are to be reached through minimal changes under conditions that collections are irreversible once changes are made to it. In china, many museums without following doctrines altered their collections in order to boost collections that are ready to be exhibited. Much of the time, porcelains were painted directly; causing damages in the long run, due to the chemistry involved causing burn and tears to the relics.

However, many museums around the world face the same issues daily: lack of funds. Without proper professional training of staffs and usage of technology to prevent the definite erosion of relics, many museums face uncertainty in their collections.

Museum is community.
Many times, we cannot reject the fact that the museums are serving the public and not a stand alone institution in which they can overwrite decisions. However, curators run a difficult situation in which decision made by the boards overwrite proper managements. Many a times, museums face problems that were accumulated through bad managements by boards. The public does not know of the activities within the museums until actions were taken. We can see clearly from the restoration of the lake in Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing, as well as other museums which sell their collections without the consent of the public. Much of the time, public furors were splashed forward, causing scandals to be made known by the media.

Conclusion

Museums should have a proper standard operating procedures in which interactivity between the institution be made known.

The museum should made public that they are holders of the countries’ collections in trusts on behalf of the public/society. Relics and collections are reversible and irreplaceable. Once lost, the national identity in which the dissemination of knowledge will be much aggravated.

Museums should focus on public service, bringing in communication at levels in which transparency can take place. With public service offered at a higher level, museums can expect better performances through visits and interaction with the community. This will help to encourage people to explore collections for inspirations, learning and enjoyment.

Museums should also consult and involve communities, users and supporters. This way, the museums can understand how they can improve the situations. At the same time, the public will be more will informed of the situations in which the museums face.

Museums should acquire items honestly and responsibly. This could prevent unwanted loss of collections and public shame. In the Cases of looting, Museums should readily adopt new policies in which to put a curb to unwanted trading to take place in the future. While it seems unlikely that these cases will be settled anytime soon, there is a growing trend among museums to return art objects and artifacts to their countries of origin after ascertaining that the works were stolen. They should safeguard the long term public interest in the collections. Guidelines stipulated should show that curators should "respect the interests" of the communities from which objects of cultural value originate. And in an implicit admission of the dubious nature of some past acquisitions, it urges them to recognize that others may have a "stronger claim to certain items" than themselves. As the saying goes: “We are to be a repository for artifacts, not a clearinghouse,"

In order to improve situations, many museums stood down guidelines such as: reinvigorate thinking about the process of creating exhibitions, establish a system for regularly reviewing exhibition planning guidelines in order to gain a better stand or what and how they manage their collections and museums.

Museums should also recognise the interests of the people who made, used, owned, collected or gave items in the collections. Collections do not belong to one man’s decision board. The people involved should also have a say, especially donors. One would not like to see what was donated to be sold due to financial problems face. In doing so, it is best to identify accountability at all levels of the Institution to adhere from mistakes.

In conclusion, As Sinatra sang, "you can't have one without the other." Ethically, a museum must know and face what its actions have upon the public. Even so, it is not as simple as that. Collections are never permanent. It is always a fight against time before they disintegrate. That is the reason why Museum managers as professionals should always consider ethically what their actions will do and hold responsible for the future generations of museum professionals, the public and the nation.

The New Seven Wonders of the World

The New Seven Wonders of the World was announced on 07.07.07 at Portugal. Concurrently, Live Earth was broad casted in various places such as Shanghai, Tokyo, London,etc.

The Wonders were chosen through an Internet voting system. You can say it's voted by the people. However, many people around the world does not have access to the Internet, thus making the voting system unfair. The new selection of the wonders remains an issue of controversial values. Rumors said that people were paid to cast votes. Whatever it is, its still worth celebrating. We just hope that these new wonders can withstand time and the strains cause by tourism in which such monuments will be worn down faster, and polluted by the foils of man.

Egypt's Pyramids is the only survivor of the past Wonders listed.

Wah, lucky those ugly modern monuments did not get inside the choice. Or else even more controversy man!


Great Wall of China, China
The Great Wall of China was built to link existing fortifications into a united defense system and better keep invading Mongol tribes out of China. It is the largest man-made monument ever to have been built and it is disputed that it is the only one visible from space. Many thousands of people must have given their lives to build this colossal construction.



Taj Mahal, India
This immense mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, to honor the memory of his beloved late wife. Built out of white marble and standing in formally laid-out walled gardens, the Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. The emperor was consequently jailed and, it is said, could then only see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.



Petra, Jordan
On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modelled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42-meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture.


The Colosseum, Rome
This great amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum's original design. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.


Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This statue of Jesus stands some 38 meters tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the world’s best-known monuments. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms.


Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, Peru
In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu ("old mountain"). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained 'lost' for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.



Ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, Mexico.

Chichén Itzá, the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its various structures - the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners – can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary commitment to architectural space and composition. The pyramid itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.

Malaysia proclaiming 50 National heritage status as celebration of half century Independence

In conjunction to 50 years of Independence, Malaysia announces that it will proclaim fifty national treasures in the form of buildings, historical sites, objects and cultural practices as National heritage. They will be officially conferred Warisan Kebangsaan or National Heritage status.

Among the list to be converted as National Heritage are The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, the Merdeka Proclamation read by Tunku Abdul Rahman at Stadium Merdeka on Aug 31, 1957, the Parliament building, the wayang kulit, mak yong, sewang, ngajat, sumazau and Joget Melayu are among the national treasures expected to be elevated from Heritage to National Heritage status.


Wayang Kulit


Top: Sewang

China's terracotta tomb site hides mystery building

For Lara Croft fans or people interested in treasure hunting, one cannot be missing the elementally huge mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unify China. The hidden site of Emperor was accidentally discovered by peasants in Xi'an, 1974, when they were digging a well.

The tomb of Qin is as sacred to the Chinese as of the rumored tomb of Ghengis Khan to the Mongolians. It signify a national pride in identity unique to each race and country. Qin was responsible in uniting China and building the world wonder Great of China (not Great Fire Wall) to curb attacks from raiding barbarians at the border.

Since then, the tomb helped in rewriting the history of China, making research richer in content and not hypo-theoretical texts found in chapters written by Sima Qian during Han Dynasty. In the burial site, a grand army of human size terracotta warriors and horses were left to guard the King's tomb from disturbance. Recent discovery by researchers and archaeologists deemed that there was a 30 metres tall building buried in the mausoleum. Some researchers deemed the building as a portal in which the emperor ascend to heaven from. It took them 5 years to come out with this hypo-thesis.

Five years is not a long time. We must take note that the tomb was 2000 years ago underground, with it sealed up from the outside world. When air rush into tomb, it good cause rapid disintegration to the site. Improper disturbance to it might cause great damage and loss of it forever. Relics and cultural heritage is prone to damages, and improper and rush actions could to lead to deterioration of site which is irreversible. Personally, I would rather a slower time to scan and figure out the remains than to know the content of the tomb in a short period, losing valuable resources in the way. There had been already too many loss of historical information by past mistakes made in China. Even the controversial evaluation to build a hydro-dam at the three gorges pushed thousands of cultural sites to be not reachable to researchers. If there is proper fund and professional help in ensuring the best possible research technique, then 5 years is nothing.

Until now, China is facing lack of funds in excavation and archaeological works. Most archaeological works were carried out as emergency through sudden discovery of sites as site rescue. Only certain international known sites were given more attention. Site were usually reburied to enable further research in the future when more funds and technical skills is accessible to China.

And for Lara Croft's lovers, no, this post is not about treasure hunting. Its about protecting things we have and what we value. Hoho. Too bad.

source: Shanghai Daily

THE tomb of China's first emperor, guarded for more than 2,000 years by 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses, has yielded up another archaeological secret, Reuters reported.

After five years of research, archaeologists have confirmed that a 30-metre-high building is buried in the vast mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang near the former capital, Xi'an, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, Xinhua news agency said today.

Duan Qingbo, a researcher with Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, said the building might have been constructed for the soul of the emperor to depart.

Archaeologists have been using remote sensing technology since 2002 to study the internal structure of the unexcavated mausoleum.

They concluded that the building, buried above the main tomb, had four surrounding stair-like walls with nine steps each, Xinhua said....

China nod for Asian heritage perspective

If most people do not know, UNESCO formed their guidelines to approved their World Heritage lists based on their committee members mainly constituted of European countries. Most of such guidelines were formed straight after the 2 World Wars which devastated our heritage globally, making us lose many valuable treasure Man created in thier History make civalization.

Recently, China and Malaysia raises issues in concern to the guidelines whether Asian countries should follow the same methods follow by the western counterparts. As beliefs and values defers countries to countries, regions to regions, some of the Chapters and guidelines offered by UNESCO might not be catered to the needs of Asian countries. Facing such issues, Japan raises their voices in accordance to the meaning of authencity and wrote the Declaration of Authentication in Nara Chapter as a guideline. It raises certain issues in which heritage can be intangible, and preservation of building in accordance to what it is does not mean as much as the intangible factor in which spirit, values, culture, customs might hold the foundation to the foundation of what A national of ethinic value might believe in. This is due to their belief that their Shinto Temple can be rebuilt, but their beliefs go beyond just a simple Architecture in form.

The Kiwis believes that their heritage site should be left to nature, in which if the nature deems their houses should be decayed and return to Mother Nature, so be it. This is a code of conduct and respect to the nature in which they deeply believed in.

Poland was razed and destroyed during the world war. However, their city made it into the World Heritage Site as well because it goes beyond physical form, but the outreach of their fighting spirit and strong National Identity to the world.

Still, we must take note that nothing is simple, and daily we are facing loss in heritage all over the world, whether it is the last ethinic race, the last form of communication and culture, or the last folk song known in a region. Time is the essence in preventing further loss. But we all have our own limitations in how much we can do.

If there should be further implications and chapters added into the guidelines, and if it is for a good cause, I feel it will always be beneficial to the world globally. After all, everything is about preseving our own uniqueness and not be tainted too much by the effects of globalisation.

However, we must always consider backwards: are all this done for commercial purposes, political purposes? How many times a site enlisted falls into bad management? How many times it all fall back into an empty pit in which so much more were lost due to the enlistment? I welcome all comments in relation to this topic. You can leave comments and ways of contact in which we can further discuss this.

Let's hope what Malaysia is doing is not solely because they want to promote Malaysia Tourism Year 2007.

source: the star

KUALA LUMPUR: China supports Malaysia’s stand that Asian countries be assessed according to their own criteria for Unesco's Heritage Cities listing.

China’s Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng said Unesco should look at the Asian perspective when according such status, based on the specific environmental, historical, geographical locations and the nature of cultural heritages of the countries in Asia.

Sun, who headed a delegation that paid a courtesy call on Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim at the Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex here on Friday, said Asian countries, which shared many similarities, should work together to ensure that Unesco accepts the suggestion by Malaysia.

On Thursday, Dr Rais had raised Malaysia's proposal to China for Asia to have its own version of “Unesco” to accord such status but the matter has yet to be decided as the Eastern Ministers of Culture have not met.

Dr Rais said there should be specific criteria for Asian countries, and that it was not right for Unesco to compare Asia to the Western nations.

“Our suggestion will be handed over to Unesco soon. It is important to give them an idea on how differently Asian countries look at artefacts or heritage sites, compared to European and other non-Asian countries.

“If there is a benchmark set for Asian countries, we will have more heritage sites,” he told reporters after receiving the Chinese delegation.

Dr Rais said he discussed training programmes related to culture and heritage with Sun, adding that China had vast experience in the conservation of buildings, cultural and heritage artefacts.

Culture on display at open house

source: the star

KUCHING: Sarawak’s ethnic communities celebrated the Gawai Dayak Open House last night with a colourful show of traditional cultures.

Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu lasses and warriors in full regalia welcomed Sarawak Governor Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and state ministers at the State Indoor Stadium here.

Among the highlights was a 30-strong Kelabit bamboo band from the Baram region in northern Sarawak.

Cultural troupes which took to the stage with their traditional dances included a group of elderly Bidayuh women from the remote village of Kampung Semban in Ulu Padawan near here.

Red carpet welcome: Tun Abang Muhammad (centre), his wife Toh Puan Norkiah and Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu (left) being greeted by Bidayuh dancers in Kuching last night.

They wore distinctive metal coils on their arms and legs, a decorative element of their traditional costume unique to their village.

There was also a musical dance-drama and a parade of beauty contestants, known as “Kumang”, in three categories – Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu.

World Heritage City status sought for Penang

Guess what? Malaysia is attempting to enlist Penang inside World Heritage List, something in which I think Singapore will need a long time before they can attempt to do so. "We are all Kiah-See people, must be confirm plus guarantee plus chop chop before we will do it." In other words, we are slower than people by one clap, but we still are pioneers in everything to ensure our continual survival as a small country in the world economically.

Enlisting Penang into World Heritage List, of course, is good news to me. As a South-East Asian, I am deeply rooted to the culture and society we live in. We are basically immigrants from other countries like China, India, Indonesia and other regions around the world that came over in the past 150 years. Our society forms a rich diversity in which we have cross marriages of Indian-Chinese, Indian-Malay, Indonesian-Chinese and Asia-Western. This cultural bongings cross overs created different form of changes in relation to food culture, living styles, religions, values..etc and created a unique icon in which we deemed ourselves Asians. We preserve our own unique identity and even morph ourselves to stand out globally.

Penang, a small city has also recorded many such beauty seen from immigrants coming over from Southern provinces of China. The food from Penang has adopted to the flavours locally, varying differently from those outside the region. At the same time however, Penang recorded and maintained many cultures and customs that might not be practice in China anymore due to the raise of the Cultural Revolution in the 60s.

But one thing for sure raises our eyebrows when looked upon pre-enlisting as World heritage Cities.

It is not a matter of politics, economics or for the sake of tourism. Yes you can boom everything up for the sake of enriching your nation's needs. But are you ready for such enlistment? There are much chapters involved in which are you able to protect and preserve your unique identity. Is the local ready to accept their role in preserving their own uniqueness? Will things be lost along the way due to pressure from tourism and economics?

You also need to consider how much money you have to fork in in restorations and preservation of such identities. There are also intangible things to consider. Will it be lost along the way? I believe that the current generation in which I am born in, most of us cannot even speak our own dialects, or relate things to it with ease.

Start with bring awareness. There are many things not needed to be rush. Especially heritage. Do proper plannings. do proper research. Find your own strengths. Find your own identity. We do not need another over-commercialised site listed. We do not need another city falling in into the hands of pure capitalism.

And if you are really ready and decided, and you know you can really shows the colours and beauty of your beautiful city Penang, yes by all means do so! I will be proud as an Asian to see it listed!

source: the star malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is hopeful that Penang and Malacca will be accorded World Heritage Cities status.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the status was mostly accorded to places in Europe and non-Asian countries and thus Unesco might tend to compare Penang and Malacca with these places.

“I hope Unesco will not compare us to places like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Pyramids. We have asked Unesco to look at us in the Asian perspective. We hope Penang will soon gain the status, followed by Malacca,” he said.

Dr Rais added that Malaysia had proposed to China for Asia to have its own version of “Unesco” to accord such status but the matter has not been decided upon as the Eastern Ministers of Culture have yet to meet.

He said it was timely that Penang was the venue of the 20th Malaysian Film Festival just as it was vying for the status. The festival will be held at Dewan Canselor Tunku Syed Putra in Universiti Sains Malaysia on Aug 4.