Festival Indonesia @ Federation Square

There was an Indonesian festival held at Federation Square last weekend.

Strangely, I feel proud as a Malaysian because Indonesian and Malaysian cultures are so similar. Of course, I regretfully state that the Indonesians do it much better than the Malaysians in terms of bringing forth our culture to the public eye. So next time if you'd like to see "Malaysian" Culture in style, visit the Indonesian Festival. You won't be disappointed.

Of course, both of our countries don't see eye to eye with each other, eg.

• Excessive burning of farm land in Indonesia leading to the haze in Malaysia and surrounding countries a few years back
• Abuse of Indonesian maids by Malaysian employers
• Malaysian students staying in Jakarta threatened by angry Indonesians.
• A tourism video promoting Malaysia supposedly depicting an Indonesian dance instead of being authentically Malaysian.
• Indonesian batik manufacturers claiming their products are more intricate and original compared to their Malaysian counterparts.
• Indonesia claiming Sabah and Sarawak as part of their estate during the forming of Malaysia in 1965

Anyway, lets move on to the festival pics:

A small traditional band playing melodies with Spanish influences were one of the first performers to start off the day.

A dance in Ultraman style. They're even dressed in red too!

ps: if you don't know Ultraman, shame on you :p

I can say most of the dances were sourced from the Kalimantan region of Indonesia which shares its borders with Sabah and Sarawak, hence the very noticeable Iban style dance. I reckon this will be one of the few chances I'll ever get to see any Iban dance this vibrant anywhere. The ones held in the Sarawak Cultural Village in my town are relatively tame compared to this one. I'm disappointed :s

The drum girls, Indonesian-style. They're awesome~

Another Indonesian dance in red.

The masked performer.

Bubbles.. and more bubbles

Tension before the point of contact. I like this one.

Kids never fail to amuse me

Another fan dance you'd probably see in West Malaysia.

The Indos have their own form of martial arts too - silat.

A more eleborate costume worn by an Iban warrior.

Another girl flashed me a smile. She seems nice.

This appears to be a dance with Portugese roots.

The Christmas tree is already up in the city.

Curry noodles - An Indonesian food perhaps?

Dancers chilling out an taking photos with the crowd before their debut.

A slower, deliberate and graceful dance.

Note their extremely colourful costumes.

A balinese styled dance, I reckon.

Festival Indonesia gives an interesting perspective on Indonesian culture, and is highly worth taking a closer look at.

Cheers.