.jpg?itok=3nENGsDT "Singapore museum says kebaya exhibition text edited 'to reflect its multicultural heritage'")
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Peranakan Museum on Friday (Sep 22) defended its revisions to an introductory text panel for a kebaya exhibition, saying they were done to reflect the garment's “multicultural heritage”.
"It has never been our intention to downplay the influence of the Malay-Indonesian world on the kebaya’s history when we edited the text," said a spokesperson, adding that "it is difficult to prove with absolute certainty the origins of the kebaya".
The exhibition, titled Her Kebaya, drew attention online after a Facebook user noticed that its write-up had changed when he visited a second time on Sep 15, compared with his first viewing on Jul 1.
A clause describing the kebaya as “rooted in the traditional fashion of the Malay-Indonesian world” was changed to "embraced as a form of fashion and dress with a long history".
The next line was also amended, from calling the kebaya an “integral part of Singapore’s Malay and port city heritage” to “an integral part of Singapore’s port city heritage”.
In response to CNA’s queries, the Peranakan Museum confirmed that amendments were made on Sep 15, and only to the introductory panel - which "should be viewed together with the accompanying captions for the display, which acknowledges the influences from the Malay-Indonesian world on the kebaya”.
Describing the exhibition as presenting kebaya ensembles from Southeast Asia and "the diversity of their wearers”, the museum spokesperson pointed to "various possible theories" on the origins of the garment, which has "a long history and wide circulation in the region".
“The cultural process of mixing, borrowing, adapting and innovating is typically not as well-documented for objects with long histories," she added.
"Without this certainty, and while appreciating that many communities don the kebaya, as well as acknowledging academic views, the museum has always advocated a broader, multicultural perspective of the kebaya.”
The museum then highlighted Southeast Asia as a "cosmopolitan meeting point" with "multiple and varied" sources of cultural influences.