Malaysia Vs Indonesia Part Dua

An update on the recent Malaysian – Indonesian quarrel:

The situation between the two nations has deteriorated  to the point that the  Malaysian government has asked the Indonesian government to protect its nationals in Indonesia.  Further, Malaysia’s PM, Najib Tun Razak instructed Anifah Aman, his Minister of Foreign Affairs to meet with his counterpart in Indonesia, Hasan Wirajuda, next Thursday.

This was prompted by reports of sporadic attacks on Malaysians in Indonesia.  The violence appears to have started with Indonesian protesters pelting the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta with eggs.  Not long after, a Malaysian medial student was reported to have been “stoned” by a mob at Jogjakarta University.  Then, on Malaysia’s 52nd National Day, about 30-40 people carrying sharpened bamboo sticks stopped people in downtown Jakarta asking them for their national id cards to verify if they were Malaysian.  The mob was telling people they would “sweep” Indonesia clean of Malaysians.  This was eventually stopped by police; however, last week, a group of Indonesians  publicly declared their wish to volunteer to go to war with Malaysia.  They went as far as to publicly practice martial arts to show their combat prowess.

This nationalistic backlash was triggered by a series of non-government advertisements.  One, showing the traditional Bali Pendet Dance as Malaysian.  The second, showing an island in the disputed Riau (Arwah) Archipelago as part of Malaysia, discussed in more detail here. There have also been issues regarding the abuse of Indonesian maids in Malaysia.

There are currently about 6,000 Malaysians studying in Indonesia alone.  Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin issued a warning to them on September 10th.

Farish A Noor wrote an insightful op-ed on the issue:

Making matters worse is the fact that in both countries these mob actions are neither accidental nor unavoidable. Mobs do not form themselves and move into the streets for no reason; vigilante groups do not miraculously form themselves out of this air without funding and political support.

And so we need to ask the question: How and why is it that in the year 2009,more than half a century after the independence of both countries, is the state of politics and society in both Malaysia and Indonesia still rooted in primordial essentialisms and sentiments that are based on intuition and emotionalism, rather than reason?

SNIP

For Indonesians to claim batik as being exclusively Indonesian, for instance, is both historically and logically wrong – for batik was produced all over Southeast Asia and up to China, India, Africa and even Europe. To claim that one country has the right to patent something as universal as batik is as absurd as to claim that the United States of America has the right to patent all cars since they were the first to mass-produce them! But reason and rational discourse can only be re-injected back into the current Malaysian-Indonesian debate if we allow it to.

This entails some degree of responsibility on the part of Malaysian and Indonesian politicians, who are morally and politically obliged to restore order in their own societies…and the Malaysian authorities likewise have an obligation to ensure that Indonesian workers – like all foreign workers – are protected while working in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government likewise has an obligation to stop the spread and escalation of the anti-Malaysian demonstrations that seem to be led by mainly right-wing hoodlums and thugs who hide behind the mask of patriotism and nationalism, while in reality are no different from the preman gangs who have terrorised the Indonesian public for decades. Reason and rational debate only work in softer climes where the voices of reason can be heard.

To Mr.  Noor’s dismay, these situations are rarely rational.  The first concern of most elected officials anywhere is to be reelected.  To do this, they have to pay some lip service to their constituents concerns.   Territorial dispute are all too common in Southeast Asia, especially where natural resources are concerned, but when intertwined with ethnic nationalism they can boil out of control.  Cambodia and Thailand have just concluded such a dispute, over the Preah Vihear Temple area, which resulted in the death of several people on both sides.  These type of conflicts and the resulting jingoism they generate are the greatest barriers to further political and economic integration in the region.  As with most of these issues, direct bilateral relations provide the only catharsis, but the result is normally a short term form of armistice.  There is rarely a lasting peace or framework created  to facilitate future disputes before they get out of hand.    Not surprisingly, no neutral party affiliated with ASEAN or any other regional grouping has offered to be an honest broker.

*dua = “2” in both Malaysian and Bahasa Indonesian