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i’ve seen indians on my tl who think mira filzah was disrespectful because of the context but also a lot of indians who didn’t find a problem but were more simplistic in their reasoning such as “if indians can wear baju kurung, malays can wear the traditional clothes of indians”
which i actually agree with. i think being absolutely exclusive in embracing culture is only going to create more division. and i think that when you remove the context from mira filzah’s photo, she isn’t doing anything inherently wrong. but that’s only when you don’t see the
bigger picture. firstly, she’s personally admitted she did it because she was inspired by bollywood. but bollywood is only a caricature of indian culture. this shows that she has never educated herself on the culture itself but decides to borrow elements from art that was sprung
from the culture that doesn’t accurately embody it (btw, i’m not just simply saying this. i have read other threads from indians themselves explaining the difference between indian culture and how it’s portrayed in bollywood). and secondly, the brand that she did the photoshoot
for (if you scroll down their instagram) has never made an effort in uplifting indians or even dark-skinned malaysians for that matter. we can’t fully blame mira filzah for appropriating indian culture when her original intent was to show appreciation for indian culture (which
she had mistakenly conflated with bollywood) and collaborated with a brand that has never had indian representation but suddenly agreed to follow her concept. if they had always been inclusive and had indian representation then it would be another story. but they have, for one,
profited off of indian culture when they had never shown appreciation for it and, two, used a malay person instead of an indian to embody it. i see this as a microcosm of how malaysian society looks down upon indians themselves who wear their traditional clothing but praise
malays who do the same. even if they don’t, as seen in the comment section under mira filzah’s post, they don’t attack the malay person but they attack the culture that they’re embodying (i.e. the ones saying she looks like a cow because of the large nose ring).
you can bring up the fact that indians wear baju kurung and eat malay food but https://twitter.com/roshinee_m/status/1296373050007359488?s=21
there’s also a refusal, on the malays’ part, to admit that there is a power dynamic in malaysia that benefits them and paints them as the centrepiece of malaysian culture when, in my opinion, all cultures should be equally embraced and shared. along with this, there’s a pressure
on minorities like indians to assimilate and embrace malay culture as to prove their patriotism. minorities in schools are discouraged from wearing their traditional clothes or are instructed to modify them to make them more ‘appropriate’. and i’ve lost count of how many times
malay people (online and offline) have called indians ‘pendatang’ or ‘penumpang’ and it’s indicative of common racist narratives within the malay community that indians fall victim to. there are too many other issues that plague the indian community in malaysia which mentioning
would make this thread into a whole ass article. but anyway, this is what makes cultural appropriation not okay. i’ve seen takes that actually encourage malays to participate in indian-themed events, wear their traditional clothes and such but emphasise on the fact that their
culture isn’t something to profit off of, at least not without uplifting the people that belong to it.
side note: if you’re an indian and you don’t care or weren’t offended by mira filzah’s post, power to you. i do not wish to speak over you. my intentions were to summarise and compile the points i’ve read from indians who did take issue with it
the tweet that i qrt-ed in this thread belongs to this thread https://twitter.com/roshinee_m/status/1296321845738651650?s=21
this thread has a couple typos in it (nothing wrong w that) but it mentions a lot of relevant factors https://twitter.com/pavitheunicorn/status/1296344437866369025?s=21 https://twitter.com/pavitheunicorn/status/1296344437866369025
this thread explains how bollywood n indian culture aren’t synonymous + emphasises on educating yourself about it first before embracing it https://twitter.com/mrmanter/status/1296287895863455744?s=21 https://twitter.com/mrmanter/status/1296287895863455744
also you can’t embrace a culture without supporting the people behind it https://twitter.com/michelleyesudas/status/1296337648710086656?s=21 https://twitter.com/michelleyesudas/status/1296337648710086656
as i’ve said, mira filzah was inspired by bollywood. bollywood is a north indian industry. so this is for those that dismiss indians who took issue with the post cos “all malaysian indians are from south india”
and i stg if any hoes hmu with “benda dari negara barat nak bawak sini buat pe” it’s on sight 
https://twitter.com/ezro_cadabro/status/1296385872363794433?s=21 https://twitter.com/ezro_cadabro/status/1296385872363794433
https://twitter.com/ezro_cadabro/status/1296385872363794433?s=21 https://twitter.com/ezro_cadabro/status/1296385872363794433
Y’ALL idk if im spreading misinformation in this thread about mira filzah specifically but if i am PLEASE take this into account https://twitter.com/adaazam/status/1296466715975581698?s=21 https://twitter.com/adaazam/status/1296466715975581698
ANOTHER NOTE: the brand that doesn’t have any history of indian representation is La Vue Lens & Lashes. this is the brand that mira filzah did a photoshoot for. however, in the post she also tagged Cassandra Collection which is a business owned by an indian muslim
