Letter: RI, Malaysia need diplomacy
| Fri, 12/31/2010 9:54 AM
This refers to an article titled “RI-Malaysia relations: All in the
family” (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 30) from Vissia Ita Yulianto of
Freiburg, Germany.
As a Malaysian, I see a lot of my fellow Indonesians with successful lives in Malaysia.
Indonesia has a large population and its territory is huge, covering
many small islands and three major ones – Borneo, Java and Sumatra.
Therefore, as Ita Yulianto describes, the poor from far-off provinces
are sometimes the target of discrimination. But, let us sit back and
examine the situation. Who are the culprits that drag them out in the
first place?
Are these people patriotic enough to their mother nations or their poor fellow countrymen?
As a Malaysian, I have seen our authorities deal with hundreds of
thousands of Indonesians who stay in the country with expired visas or
passports, not to mention their past activities that reflect on society.
Generally, Malaysians have a fair attitude toward people from any part of the world.
The government should offer a pardon to allow my fellow Indonesians to re-register themselves.
I just want my Indonesian friends to understand that we are brothers and
sisters in Southeast Asia. We need to respect our own home like a
parent or a sibling, and in turn we’ll show the same respect.
We need to look after each other, and speak in a proper diplomatic manner.
I would like to see this happen in our region within the next decade.
Millie A. Ujang
Kuala Lumpur
