M'SIAN EMBASSY IN JAKARTA URGED INDONESIAN MEDIA TO BE MORE SENSITIVE TO ISSUES

JAKARTA, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Embassy in Indonesia Thursday
urged all relevant authorities, especially the Indonesian media, to understand
the sensitivity of the people in both countries so that news reported by them,
would not hurt their feelings.

The Embassy expressed regret over recent misunderstandings and accusations
leveled by the local media (Indonesia) which claimed that the Malaysian
government had 'stolen' the Pendet dance which originated in Bali, for a tourism
promotion video clip.

"The Malaysian Embassy wants to stress that there has been a serious
misunderstanding and misconception over the production of the video clip and the
accusation on the Malaysian government," said the Embassy in a statement,
Thursday.

The statement added that the commercial video clip was an initiative by the
Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific and did not involve any Malaysian party.
"Nobody in Malaysia had claimed that the Pendet dance originated in
Malaysia," said the statement.

"By right, those who had jumped to a conclusion, should have done some
research to verify the matter before making any remarks."

The 30-second promo ad was done by a third-party supplier, hired by
Discovery Channel, who have an office in Singapore without any involvement from
Malaysians, added the statement.

Pendet is a traditional Balinese dance, in which offerings are made to
purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet
is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls
of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance.

Pendet can be thought of as a dance of greeting, to welcome the audience and
invite spirits to enjoy a performance.


-- BERNAMA