Indonesian Ambassador: No Claim Of Pacu Path From Malaysian Authority

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono spoke about the issue of claims from the Indonesian Path Pacu tradition by Malaysian netizens.

Hermono stated that until now there has been no official claim from the Malaysian authorities over the tradition of Pacu Line Indonesia which has gone viral on social media recently.

"What is circulating, it could be an unofficial claim made by Indonesians, or just an baseless accusation that Malaysia claims. But officially no one claims it belongs to them," Ambassador Hermono told ANTARA, Wednesday, July 9.

He said that if you look at history, many people in Malaysia whose ancestors came from Indonesian territory. Before independence, many Indonesians migrated to Malaysia.

When migrating, Indonesians carry their respective cultures.

"There are Riau, Padang, South Sulawesi, Java and others. Therefore, now in Malaysia we also see many similarities or even cultural similarities, because they were brought by people from Indonesia who are now Malaysian citizens," he explained.

He conveyed that there are also many names of the same places between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"As far as I know, the lane is carried out in the Kuantan Riau River, now in Malaysia there is also the City of Kuantan, there is also the Kuantan River in Pahang. So there is a resemblance. But so far there has been no official claim from the Malaysian government that Pacu is their cultural heritage path," said the Ambassador.

He appealed to Indonesian citizens or social media users in Indonesia, not to be easily provoked by news or broadcasts on social media, because this issue could trigger a commotion on social media.

According to Ambassador Hermono, the similarities or cultural similarities between Indonesia and Malaysia should actually be the glue that strengthens relations between Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to him, so far cultural similarities have become an element of loosening or triggering commotion on social media, especially at the community level.

"Indonesian citizens should not be easily provoked by news on social media whose source is not clear. I think that is what needs to be conveyed. Do not let cultural similarities or similarities become a factor that triggers unnecessary noise on social media," hoped Ambassador Hermono.