KOTA TINGGI, March 11 ― Persatuan Dunia Seni Silat Melayu Malaysia (DSMM) wants silat to be gazetted as an Intangible Cultural Heritage under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

DSMM honorary secretary Maimoon Hussein said the association had submitted an application to the Unesco to ensure that the martial art would continue to evolve and be preserved.

"Recently DSSM in collaboration with the Malaysian Tourism Council submitted an application to the Unesco to recognise and elevate silat (as an Intangible Cultural Heritage).

"We do not want this martial art to be categorised as belonging to a country because it would be unfair to martial art activists as the silat itself had evolved in the Malay archipelago,” she told reporters after attending the opening ceremony of the Himpunan Seribu Sri Kandi Melayu in Tanjung Balau here yesterday. ― Bernama