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by Mansor Puteh The Malaysia-Indonesia relations at best can be described as identical twins who have grown up and who are now looking at their personal needs differently than they did before. It could even lead to mutual mistrust and later on emnity if this issue is not contained and attempts made to see that the sensitive issues are not exploited.
It is therefore the responsibility of the more educated to try and reach out to those who are bent on creating more confusion and deal with the matter in the most rational and educated way to explain the issues of culture in its historical perspective. The issues concerning batik, keroncong, tarian barongan, etc., etc., are stale issues by many academicians and cultural experts. But they are new with those who are not so academically inclined and who are so possessive for no reason. Even if they are said to be of Indonesian origins, surely, they cannot hang on to them without using them for the present era. These cultural heritage are God-given and they are meant to be shared by everyone who wants to use them. The batik makers in Bali are happy to sell their batik shirts to foreign tourists to wear and be proud of the fact that they are wearing batik. If the logic and lay philosophy of the street 'cultural experts' in Indonesia is to be taken into account, then why bother to sell those shirts if they are not to be worn in the first place? The same with the other Indonesian cultural products that they are happy to show to the rest of the world and are too eager to teach anyone to learn how to perform them. Burgers were a native of Hamburg but the American took it and made them world famous. But how come the Hamburgers and Germans are not demanding compensation for it? Western-style clothes are also being used by all, including the Indonesians, but this seems to have escaped those who are angry that Malaysians, too enjoy wearing the batik and listening to keroncong music that may have Indonesian as well as Malaysian origins. We have to acknowledge that, more so in today's age, the demands for many fundamental things have increased and not all of them refer to the right direction in the form of the enhancement of our mutual cultural, social, linguistic as well as religious commonalities and interesting differences, peculiarities and even quirks, I may add. Yes, Malaysians, especially Malays have since the 1970s after the end of Konfrontasi enjoyed influences from Indonesia in many forms. Many started to accept 'kretek' or clove cigarettes which they had not experienced before; others, music. Their singers started to come to perform in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the exchanges seemed to be only one-sided. Malaysia seems to have shown keen interest to bridge the cultural and social divide by bringing in the Indonesian singers, film stars and makers but the Indonesians do not seem to be able to reciprocate. No Malaysian artiste has been invited to perform on Indonesian television or allowed to perform in concerts and Malaysian films are also unofficially barred from being screened in their cinemas. Only a few Malaysian television dramas had been shown on television including some that I had produced which were shown on SCTV many years ago. There are many ways for Malaysia and Indonesia to bring the two peoples together and the methods are definitely limited to music, films, but a host of other things. Organising a concert by RTM by inviting artistes from the two countries are amateurish; they do not affect thinking or bring about any long term solution on the issues. Here are some important question I have to ask: Where are the academicians and cultural experts from both countries? Why have they been quiet? Where are their proposals? And why is Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia not generally accepted to be the same? Why can't some senior officials in RTM propose that television dramas in both countries must have dialogue in standard Bahasa Melayu and not in their local dialects, so that they can encourage all Malaysians and Indonesians to speak in the language so that there is no need to subtitle Indonesian dramas with Bahasa Malaysia. And does anyone know how to standardise Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia so that Bahasa Melayu can expand and the language can developed in a proper manner? Why has English become so widely used and yet its development is in a proper manner with no one country being able to do as it pleases with the language, like what is happening with Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia where just about anybody can introduce a new word in the vocabulary. In the 1974, both countries agreed to a common form of spelling. I made my first trip to Indonesia by traveling by land from Jakarta to Bali and back, before flying to Kuala Lumpur. And I could see the initial confusing experienced by the ordinary Indonesian folks over the new spelling of the names of the cities. However, visiting Indonesia then was not like visiting another country altogether; there was bonding and being a Malay from Malaysia opened many doors and hearts which I found amazing, being so young and alone and being received anywhere I went, and especially being crowded at the canteen of the Universitas Udayana in Denpasr, Bali when one of the students realised I had come from Malaysia. Generally, I dare say the relationship between the ordinary people of Malaysia and Indonesia is very good. Unfortunately, amongst the trouble-makers it is not so. I do not know how many of those who had demonstrated against Malaysia at our embassy in Jakarta to burn the Malaysian flags or efigies of our local leaders had come to Malaysia to work, or if they did not have friends or relatives who had come here. Most likely, many of them had not been to Malaysia before to find out the hospitality that we often extend to the Indonesian workers, especially those who are house-help and doing menial jobs. And this is what makes them feel at home being received. Unfortunately, there is a small group of them who had not come to Malaysia to work, but to escape from the law in Indonesia and despite that continue with their criminal ways, since there are many more things that they can steal here than anywhere else, and be able to escape detention because they can always slip back to Indonesia after committing the crimes There have been cases of Achehnese who had escaped to Malaysia where they were given refugee status with some permanent residency, who reciprocated by commiting crimes. How ungrateful. What can we do to create a better environment so that mistrust and mischief from some irresponsible groups in Indonesia are not allowed to become champions of false causes There is no need for anyone to question our own right to acquire any cultural properties because they were brought to us from immigrants. And because of our affirnity with our Indonesian brethren since the age of time, when borders were not charted, there should not be anyone in Indonesia who can charge us for intellectual and cultural property thefts. They must also learn fast that the Ramayana and Baharata that they claim to be their own originated from India. The Borobudur is not a local element but an alien one. And the main religion that most of their people profess, which is Islam was not given to them by Allah, but were brought to them by traders few hundred years ago. Dispute on ownership of cultural influences will lead to nowhere.
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Would you be willing to drop the words "saya" with gue or "kamu" with lu? Or would they be willing to change the word from "bisa" to "boleh" or we change the word "bisa" to racun?
Talk is cheaplah. Experts are aplenty, read the Indonesian blogs and see if they think Malaysia and Indonesia are identical twins.
First, we must start with respecting each other, don't call them Indons!
In Indonesia, everyone is Bumiputera even if you're from non-muslims area of Manado, Bali or Kalimantan Dayak.
You can easily stack the academic qualities in overseas universities of these Indonesia students with our Mara or JPA scholarship holders. No comparisonlah.