This document discusses cultural and political disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia. It notes that Indonesia recently gained recognition from UNESCO for batik as an important Indonesian cultural tradition, which was welcomed as a point scored against Malaysia amid ongoing disputes over cultural heritage. The document outlines a history of shared cultures and fluid borders between the two countries that have led to disputes over issues like territory and cultural practices.

1. Changing Landscapes in Malaysia
Lai Chee Kien
Department of Architecture,
National University of Singapore
12 Sep 2010, When Nations Remember

3. Preah Vihear temple
Cambodia’s heritage?
Thailand’s heritage?
JAKARTA — For Indonesians, it is a point scored in a long-running rivalry
with their neighbor Malaysia: The United Nations has decided to recognize
Indonesian batik as one of the world’s important cultural traditions.
After a run of what Indonesian nationalists view as Malaysia’s poaching of
its culture, the announcement last week that the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization would add batik to its
Intangible Cultural Heritage list at a ceremony at the end of this month was
especially welcome. To celebrate, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
has asked all Indonesians to wear batik on Oct. 2.
“It is so important that the world finally recognize and acknowledge batik as
an Indonesian heritage,” said Obin, one of the country’s leading fashion
designers. “It is a part of our soul.”
But bragging rights to batik, the process of creating intricate patterns on
textiles with wax-resistant dyes, is only one of a slew of issues — cultural,
social and political — that have bedeviled relations between Malaysia and
Indonesia of late. In June, things had reached the point where Malaysia’s
defense minister felt it necessary to declare that, contrary to appearances,
the two countries were not on the brink of war.
Indonesia and Malaysia’s numerous commonalities have often sparked
disputes. Their historically fluid borders gave rise to populations that share
both the Islamic religion and very similar languages. The two countries
fought a real war over territory on the island of Borneo in the 1960s, and
several conflicts over small, but resource-rich, islands and coastal territories
continue today.
Score One for Indonesia in the War Over Batik
New York Times, 14 Sep 2009

6. UN General Assembly Hall
Signing of the UN Charter, 1945
Established October 1945

7. Woodrow Wilson Established Jan 1920

8. On the Path of the Revolution, 1933, by
Zeki Faik Izer
Liberty leading the People, 1830, by
Eugene Delacroix
England and France,
the first “nations”

9. Galactic Polities
Angkor Wat
Borobudur

12. Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, in 1941

13. Southeast
Asia during
the Japanese
Occupation,
1942-45.

14. Penang
Malacca
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur
Ipoh
White areas in Malaya, 1955-1959
“Amnesty”
pamphlet

15. Indonesia 1945
Philippines 1946
India 1947
Pakistan 1947
Sri Lanka 1948
Burma 1948
Laos 1950
Cambodia 1950
Malaya 1957
Singapore 1965

16. PARTIAL MAP OF SOUTHEAST ASIA
Mainland
S.E. Asia
Java
Sumatra
Borneo
Penang
Malacca
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur
Ipoh

17. Date of joining United Nations
Philippines 24 Oct 1945
Thailand 16 Dec 1946
Burma 19 Apr 1948
Indonesia 28 Sep 1950
Cambodia 14 Dec 1955
Laos 14 Dec 1955
Malaya 17 Sep 1957
Singapore 21 Sep 1965
Vietnam 20 Sep 1977
Brunei 18 Sep 1984Indonesia’s flag raised at United Nations, 1950

18. Capital
City
State
Region and
Affiliations
World
B O R D
E
R
SPACE
S
Colonial ContemporaryNational
TIME
Nation
Classical

19. END
Thongchai
Winichakul

20. A Chronology of Malaysia and Singapore
Millenia Pre-colonial Southeast Asia
July 25, 1511 Afonso de Alburquerque landed in and captured Malacca
Aug 11, 1786 Francis Light landed in Penang Island
January 26, 1819 Stamford T. Raffles landed in Singapore
March 17, 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty: The Netherlands ceded Malacca to the British East India Company
1826 Straits Settlements established under British East India Company
1841 Brunei Sultanate ceded Sarawak to the White Rajahs
1846 Brunei Sultanate ceded Labuan to Britain, becoming a Crown Colony in 1848, then part of North Borneo on January 1, 1890.
1857 Swiss botanist Heinrich Zollinger first used the term “Malesia” as a biogeographical term to describe the Malay Archipelago.
1888 North Borneo (present-day Sabah) becomes a British Protectorate
April 1, 1867 Straits Settlements formed with lands comprising Penang, Malacca, Singapore andLabuan (joined October 30, 1906)
1895 Federated Malay States established (Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Negri Sembilan)
1942-1945 World War II (Japanese Occupation)
from 1945 Cold War in Asia
Apr 1, 1946 Malayan Union formed, Singapore became Crown Colony and which included Labuan (which was then annexed to British North
Borneo on July 15, 1946)
Jan 31, 1948 Federation of Malaya established (Malay States + Penang and Malacca)
1948-1960 The Malayan Emergency
Oct 8, 1949 University of Malaya inaugurated
Aug 31, 1957 Independence for Malaya (Merdeka)
Sep 17, 1957 Malaya joined United Nations
June 3 1959 Singapore granted self-governance status
Dec 12-15, 1959 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP)
1961 Regional Affiliations: Association of South East Asia (ASA) formed between thePhilippines, Thailand and Malaya.
Feb 1, 1962 University of Malaya becomes University of Malaya in KL and University of Singapore in Singapore
Sep 16, 1963Formation of Malaysia from peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak
1963-1966 Konfrontasi with Indonesia
July 21, 1964 Communal riots in Singapore
Aug 9, 1965 Singapore separated from Malaysia
September 21, 1965 Singapore joined United Nations.
1965 New Straits Times formed, separately from The Straits Times (1845)
1966 Malaysia-Singapore Airlines formed, but separated in 1972 into Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines (1946: Malayan Airways,
1963: Malaysia Airways)
Aug 8, 1967 Association of Southeast Asian Nations formed (ASEAN)
May 13, 1969 Communal riots in several Malaysian cities
1971-1990 New Economic Policy, succeeded by New Development Policy from 1991
May 8, 1973 Malaysian Ringgit no longer exchangeable with Singapore or Brunei dollar.
Jan 1, 1982 Malaysia changes standard time to +8 hours GMT. Singapore announced change following Malaysian announcement in 1981.
Dec 2, 1989 Peace Accord in Haatyai between Malaysian government and Malayan Communist Party

21. TIME
17th century 18th century 19th century 21st
Liberty leading the People,
1830, by Eugene Delacroix
England and France, the first “nations”
W W I
1914-8
W W I I
1942-5
Indonesia 1945
Philippines 1946
India 1947
Pakistan 1947
Sri Lanka 1948
Burma 1948
Laos 1950
Cambodia 1950
Malaya 1957
Singapore 1965
Dates of
Independence
East India Company,
British: 1600, Dutch: 1602
16th century
Portuguese colonize
Malacca, 1511
Anglo-Dutch
Treaty of 1824
Global Financial Crisis
2007-8
On the Path of the Revolution,
1933, by Zeki Faik Izer
League of Nations (1919), United Nations (1945)
Formation of
ASEAN, 1967
TURKEYFRANCE
20th century
Cold War
1947-89
British colonize Penang Island,
1786
Jose Rizal executed
1896

22. MALESIA :
a biogeographical term
MALAYSIA :
a geopolitical term
SOUTHEAST
ASIA

23. Alfred R.
Wallace
Heinrich
Zollinger
Malesia / Malaysia

24. Bajau boat people

25. Malayan/Malaysian Philippines
Rizal often referred to himself and his countrymen as “the unfortunate Malays of the
Philippines.” He explored and researched the origins of the Malay race and
similarities between Sumatrans and Filipinos, right up to the time of his persecution.
After his death, he was enthroned with appellations such as “the Great Malayan” or
“Pride of the Malay Race,” while a post-war account of the advent of self-rule in the
Philippines was declared the “First Malayan Republic.”
In 1937, another Filipino nationalist Wenceslao Q. Vinzons dreamt of a “unified
Malaysia extending from the northern extremity of the Malay Peninsula to the shores
of the remotest islands of Polynesia” as the “original state of Malaysia before the
home of [our] civilized ancestors was swallowed by the waves.” His famous essay
“Malaysia Irredenta” expounded his vision of a united maritime nation.
José Rizal Wenceslao Q. Vinzons

26. Besides Filipino groups, the use of the
term “Malaysia” may also have taken to
represent the concept of “Nanyang”
(Southern Seas) for diasporic Chinese
who arrived in the various cities of
Southeast Asia in the early 19th century
onwards. “Nanyang” described an
imagined translocational network of
relations determined by such Chinese
settlement patterns, and their social and
cultural links back to China. In Kuala
Lumpur, for example, a society
promoting scholarly Chinese culture and
art forms was established in 1929, called
“United Artists Malaysia,” but the term
“Malaysia” referred to the diaspora on
the nodal network rather than that
imagined by Malaysian nationalists or
the European scientists, all three a
consequence of different forms of
imagination.”
United Artists Malaysia, 1929

27. Association of Southeast Asia
(ASA)
1961
Association of
Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN)
1967

28. Parliament House Masjid Negara Subang Int’l Airport National MonumentMuzium Negara
Merdeka ParkStadium Merdeka University of Malaya Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Stadium Negara

29. Putrajaya Masterplan, 1998

30. National Library at Stamford Road

31. Exhibition of works by Ng Eng Teng
Internal Courtyard, former National Library

32. The National Theatre at Fort Canning
Alfred Wong

33. Singapore Conference Hall

34. National
Stadium

35. 1928 1949 1962
Raffles College University
of Malaya
University of
Singapore
University
of Malaya

36. Sometime after 1965
from 1845

37. Singapore Airlines
Malayan Airlines Malaysia-Singapore Airlines Malaysia Airlines
1947 1965
1972

38. Dollar notes from Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
Malaysian ringgit value decoupled from Singapore dollar, 8 May 1973

39. On 1 Jan 1982,
Malaysia
changed
standard time
to +8 hours
GMT Instead of
+7.5 GMT.
Singapore
announced
change
following
Malaysian
announcement
in 1981.

40. Independence celebrations at Merdeka Stadium,
31 August 1957
“A bridge is a concourse between two territories. We must
accordingly find a worthy symbolism in this bridge in the efforts we
are making towards the ultimate fusion of our two territories, the
Federation of Malaya and Singapore. Whether the fusion will be
absolute or not, we must have a great broad bridge between the two
territories for our ever-growing traffic of mutual understanding,
sympathy and co-operation.”
Lim Yew Hock, on the occasion of the opening of Merdeka Bridge, 17 Aug 1956

41. Straits Times, front page, 21 Sep 2010

43. PRIVATE LAND
TRESPASSERS WILL BE
PROSECUTED
BY ORDER
FEDERAL LAND COMMISSIONER
FOR GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA

45. Industrial estates in Singapore
Jurong Town concept plan

46. Jurong Railway line
Jurong Branch Line

47. Tunku Abdul Rahman
visiting Jurong in 1965
Goh Keng Swee laying foundation
stone for Jurong Shipyard 1964
The view from Jurong Hill

48. Jurong shipyard launches 3rd ship, 1965
Swan Socks
Manufacturing

49. 回憶 , 回忆
知
影

51. Map of Southeast Asia Satellite image of Southeast Asia
Mainland
Southeast
Asia
Island Southeast Asia