Globalisasi ekonomi dan impaknya kepada ruang budaya bandar Malaysia (Economic globalization and its impact on Malaysia’s urban cultural space)

Abstract

Kertas ini cuba menyerlahkan hakikat bahawa globalisasi ekonomi telah memberi impak kepada ruang budaya bandar Malaysia meskipun proses ini menerima rintangan. Dengan menampilkan gejala pemdentukan budaya baru di Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, kewujudan impak ini cuba dijelaskan dengan merujuk kepada beberapa laporan akhbar tempatan mengenai percubaan pihak-pihak berkenaan untuk membarat atau mengAmerikakan kedua-dua landskap dan aktiviti budaya di Bangsar. Dari segi landskap, kehadiran ramai ekspatriat di Bangsar telah membawa kepada terdirinya banyak bistro, pubs dan kedai urut di jalan-jalan Bangsar Baru. Dari segi aktiviti budaya pula agen-agen tertentu telah cuba menganjurkan kegiatan baru yang berani seperti pesta mandi buih ala festival Woodstock Musical and Fair semasa perayaan Hari Valentine tahun 2000 yang telah mengundang tentangan dari komuniti masjid berdekatan dan memaksa kerajaan membatalkan permitnya. Meskipun peristiwa ini mencerminkan kedayaan pihak local untuk mempengaruhi impak global, namun ianya tidaklah harus ditafsirkan sebagai penerimaan pihak kerajaan akan reaksi pihak lokal. Minat kerajaan ialah memelihara dayasaing Malaysia di mata dunia dan kerana itu masyarakat tempatan haruslah dapat menunjukkan sikap toleransi terhadap budaya global. Hanya perhitungan politik saja yang menyebabkan kerajaan berpihak kepada masyarakat tempatan dalam tentangan mereka terhadap budaya global yang sensate itu . Dengan kata lain, kertas ini menyimpulkan bahawa ‘split personality’ kerajaan inilah yang telah memudahkan penembusan ruang Malaysia oleh budaya sensate global.

Katakunci: budaya sensate, ekspatriat, globalisasi, landskap budaya, ruang budaya, tentangan lokal

This paper attempts to make the point that economic globalization has impacted Malaysian urban cultural space although it is not a process that goes unchallenged. By alluding to the progressive formation of a new cultural area in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur the impact is illustrated through newspaper accounts of the attempt by relevant parties to Westernise or Americanise both the landscape and cultural activities of Bangsar. In terms of landscape, the relatively strong presence of expatriates has led to the setting up of bistros, pubs and massage parlours along the Bangsar Baru streets. In terms of cultural activities, agents had sought to introduce bold new attractions such as the bubble bath after the fashion of the Woodstock Musical and Fair festival during a Valentine Day celebration in 2000 which ended up attracting solid resistence from the nearby mosque community and forced the state to have it cancelled. While this significantly shows the ability of the local to influence the impact of the global, it should not be interpreted as an act of acquiescence on the part of the state with regard to the local counteraction. In wanting to safeguard Malaysia’s competitiveness, the state’s interest is still uppermost in getting the local public tolerating, if not accepting, the ‘global’ culture. It is only political pragmatism that forced it to side with the local GEOGRAFIA OnlineTM Malaysian Journal of Society and Space 1 (46 - 55) © 2005, ISSN 2180-2491 resistence. In other words, it is the split personality of the state that has facilitated the encroachment and penetration of the Malaysian cultural space by the global sensate culture.

Keywords: cultural landscape, cultural space, expatriates, globalization, local resistence, sensate culture