TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Malaysia, Indonesia quarrel turns to music
Close neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia, whose territorial and property rights disputes remain unsettled, are on the brink of yet another row
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Close neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia, whose territorial and property rights disputes remain unsettled, are on the brink of yet another row.
The potential conflict revolves around a demand by the association of Malaysian music industry employees, Karyawan, to restrict radio broadcasts of Indonesian songs.
Karyawan head Ahmad Abdullah said the association planned to propose to the Malaysian Energy, Water and Communications Minister, Shaziman Abu Mansor, a broadcasting ratio of 90 percent Malaysian songs and 10 percent Indonesian.
"The association will accept an 80:20 ratio," Ahmad said, adding several Malaysian artists supported the move.
But a member of the eminent persons group of the Indonesia-Malaysia relationship, Pudentia, said Thursday that Malaysia was unlikely to be able to control the distribution of Indonesian songs because it was a matter of taste.
"It's a matter of like and dislike, and no one can force his or her taste on others," she said.
"If Indonesian songs are widely broadcast throughout Malaysia, this means people there are fond of Indonesian music."
The three top Malaysian radio stations -- Era FM, Hot FM and Suria FM -- air their own Indonesian music charts every Sunday morning.
Malaysian rock star Amy Search said radio stations would turn Malaysia into Jakarta every night by playing Indonesian songs until dawn.
R&B singer Glenn Fredly, whose self-titled album Glenn was awarded the Indonesian Best Album in the Malaysian Music Industry Award 2000, said he was not surprised by Malaysian musicians' demand, but reminded them they could not resist globalization.
"I think what they are trying to do is understandable, but, you know, music is about taste and you can't just change people's taste," he said.
"This is also part of globalization. They should have realized that."
Glenn said that if the Malaysian government granted the musicians' demand, the Indonesian government would have to work harder to help the ailing music industry, which has suffered recently because of widespread piracy.
Malaysia and Indonesia have been involved in various spats, ranging from sovereignty claims over a territory to the property rights to a song. The two are also bitter rivals in sports, particularly badminton.
