Cool but upset with Jakarta
Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 – Malaysian officials and media have been generally restrained in their reaction to displays of belligerence on the streets of Jakarta.
But anger is palpable on the Internet and among ordinary Malaysians.
The government has registered its protest over threats made against Malaysians, and last week summoned Indonesia’s ambassador here to express “grave concern” over persistent accusations of cultural theft.
Kuala Lumpur has repeatedly said that it had nothing to do with erroneous tourism advertisements on the Discovery Channel featuring the Balinese pendet dance. The channel has since stopped airing the 30-second clip.
By and large, the Malaysian mainstream media have reported responsibly on the matter, quoting mainly officials and not engaging in any emotional venting. Malaysian officials have also pledged the safety of Indonesian citizens against any backlash.
But on the streets and in the blogosphere, Malaysians are increasingly outraged by what they see as Indonesians’ refusal to be appeased. Some even complained that the local media here did not play up the issue.
One letter to Utusan Malaysia newspaper called for a ban on Indonesian songs and programmes.
The reader, Inanza, expressed her disappointment over “the lack of nationalistic spirit shown by our media over this”.
“It’s not that we want to be irrational like Indonesia but at least make it seem as if we are doing something, not just closing our eyes and ears,” she wrote.
Indeed, many Malaysians were at first unaware of the spat when it erupted last month, due to the lack of coverage in the local media at that time. When Indonesians started burning the Malaysian flag and throwing rotten eggs at the embassy in Jakarta, they were baffled.
One 27-year-old Malaysian asked on the networking site Facebook: “Can somebody tell me why exactly those Indonesians hate us?” Some plan to create Facebook groups to counter anti-Malaysia groups which use profanities and hateful language to condemn Malaysia.
Clearly frustrated by the whole situation, some officials have pointed out that Malaysia is the source of employment for some three million legal and illegal Indonesian workers. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, over the weekend, noted Indonesians made up the bulk of foreign criminals jailed in the country.
Housewife Stephanie Chee said: “There are other more pressing matters than a dance. There are people who are so poor in Indonesia that they have to come here to earn RM500 (S$203). They should only talk when they have figured out how to provide food and create employment for their masses.”
It seemed Indonesians were “bent on having a blow-up”, wrote Abd Ghani Hamat in a commentary in the financial newspaper The Edge yesterday.
Describing their behaviour as irrational, he added: “Despite politicians in both countries playing down the human error, belligerency persisted. Perhaps the Indonesian protesters want to see the whole of Malaysia kneel before them and beg for forgiveness.”
Earlier this month, former Transparency International Malaysia chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz wrote a commentary in the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily, asking: “What else next? Stop eating satay and wearing kain batik because these are Indonesian?”
“We are not your whipping boy. Grow up Indonesia!”
Some analysts have said the hate campaign in Indonesia looked to be artificially manufactured. Malaysian intellectual Farish Noor said that “countries do not behave in a hostile manner against other countries for no apparent reason; and they do not engage in hate campaigns without someone orchestrating them”. – The Straits Times