More low blows in Enigmatic Malaysia mishap

• Enigmatic Malaysia incident still fuels anti-Malaysian reports
• Despite ad not being a Tourism Malaysia ad
• Jakarta journo says Indo - Msia rivalry to blame

Malaysia - The Indonesian uproar over a Discovery Channel commercial to promote its series "Enigmatic Malaysia" refuses to die with at least one national newspaper today still running a front page editorial bashing Malaysia.

The editorial carried on the theme played out over the past few days by several Indonesian media outlets which suggested Malaysia was stealing Indonesian culture and heritage. The reports point to a promotional spot for "Enigmatic Malaysia" aired on the Discovery Channel, which mistakenly featured an image of a traditional Balinese dancer instead of a Malaysian dancer, as proof.

"The broader background is that this [Indonesia - Malaysia rivalry] is a recurring issue and I suspect it's whipped up in the public sphere by various Indonesians who see an opportunity to bash Malaysia," Stephen Fitzpatrick, who is Jakarta correspondent on The Australian said.

The spot was pulled off the air on Monday. And an apology was issued by Discovery Networks Asia for the error but not before a handful of media outlets wrongly reported the TVC was an ad by Tourism Malaysia and accused Malaysia of cultural theft - despite the promotional spot clearly indicating through voiceover and copy the timing and the channel to watch "Enigmatic Malaysia".

"They thought, and I don't know why they thought this, it was an ad by the Malaysian government," a senior executive at a media company told A+M today.

Several clips from an Indonesian TV station reporting the incident have been uploaded to YouTube - one even shows, sans voiceover, where Discovery indicates the spot was for a new series on Discovery Channel slated for Thursdays (pictured).

Fitzpatrick, who yesterday wrote a story on the Indonesian government's reaction to the TVC, said there's definitely been a bit of a misunderstanding on whether it was or wasn't a Tourism Malaysia advertisement.

"The problem was that misunderstanding went all the way to the Indonesia Tourism Ministry and all the way to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," he said.

The Indonesian government has since issued an official protest to the Malaysian government but, reportedly, not before realizing Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific had put its hand up and already issued an apology to the media.

The network explained it regretted that the image of a Balinese dancer sourced from an independent third party had mistakenly been used in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia.

"The Balinese dancer was not featured in any way in the programme. Discovery has the deepest respect for the traditions, cultures, and practices of all races and nations, and it is not our intention to cause any misunderstanding or distress to any party," Discovery, said.

"Enigmatic Malaysia" is understood to have not been funded by the government and is part of Discovery Channel's celebrations for the upcoming Malaysian National Day. The programme will continue to air.

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