Who does the kebaya belong to?

Elegant fashion: An illustration of a painting in Didiet Maulana’s ‘Kisah Kebaya’ depicting several regional variations of kebaya worn by Indonesian women in the past century. — The Jakarta Post/ANN

A RACE to claim the kebaya (traditional blouse) is potentially on the cards after Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand announced plans to jointly nominate the traditional dress for inclusion in the United Nations cultural organisation Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage, in what is seen as a slight against Indonesia’s own endeavour.

The four South-East Asian nations announced the joint initiative in a statement from Singapore’s National Heritage Board (NHB) on Wednesday.