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Anwar’s victory precursor to Nusantara’s economic, sociocultural revival
The political imagination and economic revival of Southeast Asia, especially Nusantara writ large, cannot be ruled out.
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Taking lead: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (second right) speaks during a press conference to announce new cabinet members at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Dec. 2, 2022. (AFP)
W
hile the swearing in of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Nov. 24 was marked with great fanfare in many parts of the world, there are more things at play than meet the eye. It is important to take careful note of them as the world of Nusantara is rising.
Anwar is a Malay studies graduate from the University of Malaya, who understands the literature of Nusantara and Indonesian culture and poetry very well. When combined, Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia, which share the same roots, are the fourth most popular languages in the world, just behind Mandarin, English and Spanish.
At any rate, Indonesian literature by the likes of Rendra, Pramoedya Ananta Doer, Ahmad Tohari and Eka Kurniawan are not the least daunting to him. The same goes for the works of Arena Wati, Shahnon Ahmad, Samad Said, Usman Awang and Keris Mas, with many more from both countries.
What makes their works powerful is the collective focus on the systemic poverty that continues to affect hundreds of millions of people. For this reason, some of these scholars' literary masterpieces were incorporated into the fifth and sixth forms of the Malaysian education system. This process was started by Anwar back in the1980s, when he was the education minister.
Not surprisingly, prior to his election as the 10th prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar had explained to Channel News Asia that his focus would be on "the economy, economy and economy," which is in line with the aims of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such a world view coincides with that of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong. There is, therefore, a shared basis of cooperation among Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Accordingly, when Anwar pulled a surprising victory on his political opponents, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei did not hesitate to be among the first state dignitaries to make an official visit to Malaysia, while PM Lee, who is conversant in English and Malaysian, managed to reach Anwar too. Almost immediately after the end of his swearing-in, Anwar received congratulations from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Beyond the apparent euphoria of these leaders, whose sentiments were also widely shared by more than two thirds of Malaysia's 34 million population, the reality is simply this: the trilateral relationship of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore will strengthen further.
