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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 20. 29th August 1973

Cultural Exhibition Hides Exploitation

Cultural Exhibition Hides Exploitation

Dear Editors,

The article on Malaysia in Salient No. 19 was a very' rigorous expose of the social and political inequality which exists in Malaysia today. The need to radically alter the structures in that society which generate such inequality emerged as the main message of the article.

It is unfortunate that the same cannot be said of the Cultural Exhibition turned on by the Malaysian Students' Association over the August holidays. Photos of huge expensive buildings were displayed as evidence of social progress. Yet in the context of the poverty and backwardness which the Salient article described, such conspicuous expenditure is not to be applauded. Rather, it is to be condemned. It is to be classed alongside the spending of ex-President Sukarno of Indonesia who promoted similar kinds of projects in order to obscure the lack of real development in Indonesia.

Also on display were expensive ornaments, photos of Westernised Malay girls representing not cultural identity but cultural imperialism. Finally there were glossy tourist-type handouts on idyllic Malaysia and posters declaring the proud national unity of Malaysia. Yet nowhere in all of this did I see anything around which the workers and peasants of Malaysia could possibly unite. Nowhere was it pointed out that yields on capital invested in Malaysia are higher than in any other country in the world. Nor were the implications of this for the life and culture of those who create such wealth in Malaysia — the workers and peasants — even hinted at.

The Malaysian Students' Association thus did a grave disservice to those who attended this Exhibition. In so doing it also demonstrated its total lack of allegiance to the ordinary people of Malaysia. It is only to be hoped that those who wish to understand Malaysian society will re-read the Salient article and not be drawn in at the superficial and elitist level of communication which MSA seems eager to promote through such 'exhibitions'.

Verity Jones.

Drawing of disembowelling a bird