Stories Behind the Kebava

Sufiyanto A. S., one half of the duo behind the Kebaya.Societe Instagram account, has had enough of seeing Malay identity erased and forgotten.

- LU YAWEN

In 2022, Instagram account Kebaya. Societe published a clip of a local fashion designer making a racist statement on a virtual panel held a year earlier. Organised by the Asian Civilisation Museum, it showed Priscilla Ong Shunmugam explaining why she chose to base her collection on the cheongsam and calling Chinese women more progressive than their Malay and Indian counterparts. The criticism swiftly followed, and she issued an apology.

It was then that I, and many of us, took note of Kebaya.Societe. On a social media platform where fake accounts are a dime a dozen, it seemed like a genuine resource run by someone with good intentions. Its posts range from movie clips to pages from old fashion magazines to personal photographs focusing on the kebaya, a garment worn by women in Southeast Asia.

CONTENTIOUS ASSOCIATION