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Commentary: Forget diplomacy? Challenge Malaysia to a stanza war
Indonesia and Malaysia are at each other’s throats again
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ndonesia and Malaysia are at each other’s throats again. But the latest conflict — this time having to do with sovereignty claims that touched their respective raw nerves and national pride — isn’t likely to go away quickly and raises some concerns about where this dispute is heading.
Both sides need to chill out and find common ground. They need to go back to their shared Malay (Melayu in Indonesian) cultural roots and find old wisdom to settling differences. As it is at the moment, emotions are running high in both countries.
The House of Representatives has virtually told the government to forget diplomacy and recall the Indonesian ambassador in Kuala Lumpur to send the strongest message of Jakarta’s displeasure.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, during a hearing with the House, appeared to be at a loss to explain how to ensure an apology from Malaysia, knowing full well that one is not likely to be forthcoming.
What lies behind this process, if the government complies with the House’s request, is anybody’s guess.
But once you recall your ambassador, you virtually cut off further communications. Usually, when diplomacy fails, the only recourse left is war.
The latest dispute was started by the arrest earlier this month of seven Malaysian fishermen by an Indonesian maritime patrol in the waters near Riau, which Jakarta is sure is in its territory. Malaysia also claims the area, and in apparent retaliation detained three Indonesian maritime patrol officers on that same day. All those arrested have since been released, but instead of cooling down, tensions have only heightened.
In Jakarta, the government came under attack for trading the release of three officers for seven Malaysian “thieves” and for its failure to defend the nation’s territorial sovereignty. The Malaysian government faced similar pressures from its public. Kuala Lumpur has lodged protests, including a protest of the failure of Indonesian authorities to protect its embassy in Jakarta from attacks of vandalism.
Since both sides are demanding an apology for unlawful arrests and territorial violations by the other, you can see why many in Indonesia are skeptical about the effectiveness of diplomacy.
For warmongers on this side, the incident has become the last straw, recalling a host of earlier disputes wherein they said Malaysia insulted Indonesia. There was a similar overlapping territorial dispute over the Ambalat Sea near Kalimantan. There was the accusation of Malaysia stealing Indonesia’s cultural heritage, including the popular Rasa Sayange folk song. There were reports of Indonesian domestic workers being ill-treated in Malaysia. Last week, an NGO claimed that more than 300 Indonesian workers on trial for criminal cases in Malaysia faced death sentences.
Unless common sense and wisdom prevail, tension will continue to build and a second “Konfrontasi”, the term president Sukarno coined to declare war against Malaysia in the 1960s, seems to be in the making. Anyone who lived through that era knows that neither Indonesia nor Malaysia wants to go that way. It’s simply unthinkable.
One thing that leaders in the two nations seem to have forgotten is that there is a traditional Malay/Melayu way of settling disputes, one which is not only civilized but also fun: A duel of pantun, a four-line stanza that is recited in turn, which can be used to criticize or attack — or in the case of lovers, to express their feelings.
In the best traditional pantun wars, the exchange could go on all night, the rule being that each person must respond immediately in turn with another stanza. Some ground rules apply, such as the first and third lines and the second and fourth lines must rhyme, the first two lines must have allegories with hidden messages and the second part must have statements with more forceful and direct messages.
The game ends when one of the parties run out of ideas, and can no longer respond. Voila, we have a winner. A dispute can be settled without anyone firing a shot.
Before the latest dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia escalates any further, in the spirit of Malay brotherhood, we should hold a pantun war that pits President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono against Prime Minister Najib Razak. Both must wear baju melayu. Their supporters in the background can join in singing a chorus of Rasa Sayange — yes an Indonesian song but popularly sung in Malaysia — in between stanzas.
If Yudhoyono is not up to it, he’d better get used to it. Pantun is an effective means of communicating messages, including political messages. If he needs help, he can turn to Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring and Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Kojiro Shiojiri, both known for their ardent use of pantun at every occasion.
Give pantun, and peace, a chance.
