30 May 2015
This is the first lecture class
of this semester. This is also the first time that i am writing a blog. The lecturer was informed us that the date to visit for the
event about the Art for Grabs and KL Alternative Book Fest. We will visit to Publika
Mall on Saturday, 4 June 2016.
The lecturer has given us some question to
think about in the class. She said that almost all the people in today world
have poor knowledge in Malaysia Performing Art, Malaysian Film and Malaysian
Art. So, I have searched some of the information of the Malaysian performing
art, Malaysian Art and Malaysian film.
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Malaysian Art |
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Malaysian Performing Art |
From the internet, I know that traditional Malaysian art is mainly
centred on the crafts of carving, weaving, and silver smiting.
The popular Malaysian film included Sepet which film by Yasmin Ahmad in year
2004, Puteri Gunung Ledang which film by Saw Teong Hin in 2004, Flower in the Pocket which film by
Liew Seng Tat in year 2007 and others.
The lecturer also asked us to think
and find out the answer about the differences between the nation and the
country. Now, I would like to define them. Country can be defined as a
territory or a region of sovereign states, non-sovereign states. It can also be
defined as a region that having people with similar characteristics. A nation is a group of people who share the same
culture, language, institutions, religion, and history. The nation is usually a
group of people that larger than a tribe or community. A nation is usually a
politically organised body of people under a single government.
The lecturer also had asked us
to find out what is our national identity. It can be defined as the depiction of a country as a whole, encompassing its culture, traditions,
language, and
politics. What about Malaysia national
identity? We always used some official document to prove that we are Malaysian.
For examples, we will use our
own flag, flower, slogan, anthem, food and fruits and many more national stuff
to strengthen our identity.
As we all know, Malaysia have
different ethnics and races. The Chinese were from China, the Indians were from
India, and the Malays were from Indonesia. So, I think that the uniqueness of
our identity is not merely in the mixture of food, dance, language, art,
festivals, and traditions but the way we open ourselves to embrace the mixture.
These are my opinion. I do not pretend that I can define the Malaysian
identity. But let us start putting some thought to it. And maybe, the Malaysian
identity will start to surface into the light.
It's great that you tried to answer all the questions I raised in class :)
ReplyDeleteFor Malaysian identity, I think there is always the official form of identification like IC, Passport, etc. but I am also interested in the unofficial forms of identification.
For example, do you see yourself as a Malaysian? If yes, then what makes you a Malaysian and not a Singaporean, for example? Is it just a matter of where you live? If you live in Msia, then you are Msian. Is that always the case? What if you move to Singapore and live there even though you were born and raised in Msia? Does that make you a Msian still?
You are right about one thing though: it is not easy to define something as abstract and as personal and subjective as identity. For some people, it is more about a feeling rather than an actual clear definition.