The author of “RI-Malaysia relations: All in the family” (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 30) had a half-blinkered approach.
“Malaysia’s progressive appropriation of Indonesian traditional
properties and songs” is an example.
How could you say appropriation of
properties and songs when in the same breath you mentioned “people with
such close, common roots”.
The fact, which is clear to everyone else outside Indonesia, is that
nobody is “claiming cultural superiority” over Indonesians. Rather,
Malaysia is just claiming what is ours, which is as much as yours, too,
anyway.
Your article tried to be objective, which is rather noble I would say,
but at the same time succeeded only in clouding the issue further. Over
here what we understand is a lot of the strain in relations is due to
your media highlighting the negative issues in order to sell a few more
papers and neglecting the negative impact it might have on relations
with your “good siblings and neighbors”.
As a Malaysian, I have seen a lot of my Indonesian friends lead successful lives in Malaysia.
Indonesia has a huge population and its territory is huge. As Ita
Yulianto said, the poor folk from distant provinces are sometime the
target of discrimination. But let us sit back and think. Who were the
culprits that dragged them out in the very first place? Are these people
are true patriots?
As a Malaysian, I have seen our authorities deal with hundreds of
thousands of people still in the country with expired visas or
passports. Generally, as Malaysians, we have a fair attitude toward any
other human from any part of the world.
The government had to offer a “pardon scheme” to allow my fellow Indonesian friends to exit the country and re-register.
I just want my Indonesian friends to understand that, as brothers and
sisters in Southeast Asia. We need to respect our own home from our
parents to our siblings. In turn we’ll show respect to our relatives.
This will reflect the “roots” that we share.
Let’s think of a better way to improve our society. A good society will increase wealth or culture in both nations.
We need to look after and talk in a proper diplomatic manner. I would
like to see this to happen in our region within the next decade so that
no one in the world will notice that we came from common roots millions
of years ago.
Aje Me
Kuala Lumpur
