INDONESIAN and the ANTI-MALAYSIA sentiment!!

Indonesian has been mighty sensitive in recent times over perceived insults that we, Malaysian have allegedly dished out on them. Until today, voices condemning Malaysia are still being aired, with professors and political scientists saying Malaysia has no indigenous culture and thus has some sort of inferiority complex, and thus is stealing Indonesian culture. The stole culture in question was the Pendet dances that have been claimed by them are from Bali, which in no way would reach Malaysia through shared Malayan culture or through Javanese and Bugis migrants.

I wouldn’t know the difference between Pendet and Polka but look at this way: if tourists came to Malaysia looking for Pendet and didn’t find any, it would be our bad, not Indonesia’s. In any case, the inclusion of the dance in the clip was a mistake not of our doing.

This nothing ill will has not been due to Pendet and Polka alone. Before this, we were accused of claiming Batik and Rasa Sayang as our own. Guilty as charged, because as for as many Malaysians are concerned, there is such a thing as Malaysian Batik, even though have been agreed by international bodies that the distinct and unique characteristics are totally differentiate. Tracking history, Batik is a common throughout Southeast Asia, and a to batik brand wrote in its coffee table book that batik had been influenced for centuries by Chinese, Indian , Arabic, Europe and Japanese designs. And as for Rasa Sayang, God knows how long we’re been singing the song. It is a popular folk tune in Singapore, too.

Also, now it seems our neighbors are upset with us over our national anthem, arguing that the Negara Ku was copied from the Indonesian song Terang Bulan. Surely, this is an old story. Yes, we readily admit based on Terang Bulan. The song is based on a song composed by Frenchman Pierre-Jean de Beranger, who lived from 1780 to 1857. The song apparently becomes popular in the French territories across the Indian Ocean in the early 20th century. The melody that was later to be known as Terang Bulan over in these parts was a “hit” in the Seychelles. It was a popular tune with the royal court of Perak, and the link between Perak and the Seychelles is that the former Sultan of Perak lived in exile on Mahe, one of the Seychelles islands.

The story goes that when Sultan Idris Murshidul’adzam Shah, the Sultan of Perak from 1887 to 1916, went to London to represent the Malay Rulers of the Federated Malay States at the installation of King Edward VII in 1901, his officers were enquired as to the state anthem. The Sultan’s private secretary proffered the melody in question, as Perak then had no official anthem. From then on, Terang Bulan was adopted as the Perak state anthem. Another version of the story has it that this happened during Sultan Idris’ visit to London in 1888 for the coronation of Queen Victoria, and the person involved was the Sultan’s aide-de-camp.

There is also a story published online by the much-vaunted Indonesian publication Tempo, which has a composer there claiming that Terang Bulan was the original composition of his late father, who led the Orkes Studio Djakarta in the 1960s. It seems that the late President Sukarno requested that his father offer the song to Malaysia as “several years after independence, Malaysia had yet to have a national anthem”.

Its sounds like a tall story, as the Negara Ku was played on the day of our Independence. Whichever the true version, we know for certain that the Perak state anthem was later adopted as the national anthem, Negara Ku. Regardless of its veracity, the story is reflective of how prickly relations with our Indonesian neighbors can get. But at the end of the day, it serves no purpose for us to dwell on these matters.

Furthermore, many learned Indonesians sneers at Malaysia’s tourism slogan, “Truly Asia”, saying that it’s nonsense and proves that Malaysia has no true identity. However, I pointed out that “Truly Asia” means that Malaysia is a one-stop destination for tourists wishing to see Southeast Asian, Chinese and Indian cultures. Some Indonesian condemners may still be unaware of Malaysia’s multiple-ethnicities, while others may deliberately ignore it and feel more comfortable with the view that Malaysia is a Malay nation.

The truly, Indonesian hatred for Malaysia has been around since 1960s, probably earlier. Malaysia is the political opposite of Indonesia. It had good relations with its British colonizer, it is a federation, a parliamentary monarchy, and it is never interested in socialism. After peace returned with the creation of the Asean bloc, both governments tried to convince the people that Indonesians and Malaysians were brothers of the same stock, or more preferred called it as “serumpun”. The effort held under until 21st century, when Malaysian economic progress left Indonesian behind, and more learned Indonesians are embracing Sukarno-style-zero-sum nationalism. The real story still the same after 40 years-distract one’s woes by creating and hating a foreign enemy.

Flying the Malaysia or Indonesian flags on your product and wallpaper, while condemning each other on Facebook and T-shirt, won’t solve anything, but getting worse.

Indonesian, here the fact. Malaysia never thinks about those tourism commercials and they know that Noordin Mohammad Top is a Malaysian hiding in Indonesia because he could not survive in Malaysia. We can accept and makes sense that may Indonesians in Malaysia are involved in violent crimes, because the crime rate in Indonesia also is high.

And this is my suggestion and advice. If you want ore tourists to visit Indonesia, stop sending the message that you dislike foreigners. If you want Pertamina to become a global brand like Petronas, and to have Formula One held in Indonesia, study and follow our steps. If you find an item on the internet demeaning Indonesia ignore it and move on with your own priorities.

Stop getting so angry about trivial things so easily when you, Indonesian have potential to do great things for yourself.