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Get Rid Of Malaysia's Claim! Happy Batik Day, Indonesia

Employees of state-owned companies and government institutions have for years adhered to a tradition of wearing batik on every Friday of the week.

But today is special because President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on all Indonesians to wear batik on that day to celebrate UNESCO’s decision to include batik in its list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" items.

"Batik is regarded as a cultural icon with its own uniqueness. It conveys certain symbols and a profound philosophy, including man’s life cycle, and it has been touted by Indonesia as a non-material element of its cultural heritage," Coordinating Minister for people’s welfare Aburizal Bakrie told a press conference at Bogor State Palace on Sept. 7, 2009.

"We’ve been told that batik has been recognized as an element of global cultural heritage produced by Indonesians. The President has called on all Indonesians to wear batik on Oct. 2, to celebrate batik," the minister said.

Indonesia’s Batik, together with the Tango of Argentina and Uruguay, the traditional Ainu dance of Japan and France’s Aubusson tapestries were among the 76 elements inscribed on 30 September in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, WAM, the United Arab Emirates’ news agency, reported on Wednesday.
These 76 inscriptions were decided by the 24 Member States of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, currently holding its 4th session in Abu Dhabi, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2, 2009, under the chairmanship of Awadh Ali Saleh Al Musabi of the United Arab Emirates.

UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization)’s list describes Indonesian Batik as: The techniques, symbolism and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments known as Indonesian Batik permeate the lives of Indonesians from beginning to end: infants are carried in batik slings decorated with symbols designed to...