Jakarta and KL need better communication<\/p>\n
Ong Hock Chuan, Technical Advisor, Maverick, Strategic PR Counsel,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Vice-President Hamzah Haz had a point when he said that more
\neffective communication between Indonesia and Malaysia would help
\nmend the rift that has opened up between the two neighbors
\nbecause of the illegal Indonesian workers issue.<\/p>\n
Hamzah would also have been correct if he had pointed out that
\nineffective communication had caused Indonesia and Malaysia to be
\non opposing sides of the issue when they should be working
\ntogether to solve the problem.<\/p>\n
This is because both governments, and more importantly the
\npeople of both countries, have much to gain from a constructive
\nsolution to the recurring problem of illegal Indonesian workers.<\/p>\n
If fingers are to be pointed, one would surely point to the
\nIndonesian media for blowing up the issue. This would not be fair
\nto the media which is, after all, a medium for the governments to
\ncommunicate to the wider audience of the citizens in Indonesia
\nand Malaysia. Though the media has many faults the communicator
\nmust also shoulder some of the responsibility. In this instance
\nthe communicators have shown a lack of skill in communicating
\neffectively.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, for instance, could have been more skillful and
\nfocused in conveying and stressing the message that Malaysia
\nactually welcomes Indonesian workers if they are legal. It could
\nalso have stressed the importance and benefits of working legally
\nto Indonesians. Legal workers are protected under Malaysian law
\nagainst abuse and exploitation by employers; they are paid at
\nleast the minimal wage and they have the freedom to access
\nmedical and other social amenities.<\/p>\n
Illegal workers, on the other hand have no means of legal
\nredress because they can never go to the police without exposing
\ntheir illegal status. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation,
\nblackmail and abuse.<\/p>\n
Another downside of allowing illegal immigrants to go and stay
\nin Malaysia is also that it works against the interests of
\nIndonesians in general and legal Indonesian workers in Malaysia
\nin particular.<\/p>\n
The presence of illegal Indonesian workers deprives honest
\nIndonesians who want to enter Malaysia legally of potential jobs.
\nThat Malaysia needs Indonesian workers to help drive its economy
\nis obvious. If there were not that many illegal Indonesian
\nworkers, the country would have to relax the rules to let in more
\nIndonesian workers legally because it needs them to drive its
\neconomy.<\/p>\n
The issue of caning is an emotive one and difficult to
\nexplain, but even here Malaysia had very good reasons for this
\nplan. They had announced six months ago the deadline for illegal
\nIndonesian workers to give themselves up and be sent home. Yet
\nnot only did these workers not give themselves up, many of those
\ncaught and sent home quickly found their way back to Malaysia
\nagain as illegal workers. Malaysia could have stressed that
\nalthough caning is a harsh treatment it had been fair in
\nproviding a reasonable warning period.<\/p>\n
On the Indonesian side, communications were also ineffective
\nbecause there was no coordinated response. Each minister spoke
\nreactively rather than from an agreed position among Cabinet
\nmembers. The result was a series of mixed messages that caused
\nconfusion.<\/p>\n
Effective communication, however, is not only confined to what
\nis said but extends to what is being done or not done as well.
\nHere, the Indonesian government could have helped boost its own
\nimage and cooled tempers somewhat if it had, for instance,
\nextended more help to returning illegal Indonesian workers. This
\nwould not have been interpreted as condoning them, but that the
\ngovernment actually acknowledges the difficult circumstances the
\nwong cilik (the common people) face in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
In the past few months both governments had major
\nopportunities to put the issue in perspective through effectively
\ncommunicating with each other and the public. Yet this was not
\ndone and one of the main reasons for this must surely be the fact
\nthat both governments lack savvy when dealing with an audience
\nthat is not compliant, in particular the Indonesian media which
\nhas played no small part in blowing up the illegal Indonesian
\nworkers issue to its present proportions.<\/p>\n
Malaysian officials are so used to a compliant media in
\nIndonesia that they are actually at a loss when confronted with
\nthe Indonesian media which is spirited and independent but which
\ncan also be sensational and cavalier with facts.<\/p>\n
Indonesian officials, though they face the Indonesian media
\nevery day, have similarly been so wrapped up in their own agendas
\nand political intrigues that they do not realize that the nature
\nof the media has actually changed before their very noses.<\/p>\n
In both cases the result is a lack of awareness among
\ngovernment officials of the importance of managing perceptions.
\nThe illegal Indonesian workers issue is a classic case of
\nunmanaged perceptions leading to emotional outbursts and
\ndiplomatic one-upmanship. Part of the problem is that most
\nofficials or politicians in Asia assume that they are effective
\ncommunicators when in truth they are not. Many of them lack the
\ntraining, techniques and skills to communicate clearly and
\ncredibly to the media.<\/p>\n
Basic concepts of effective political communications such as
\nmessaging, keeping message discipline and arguing for the wider
\npublic interest are alien to them. As a result their
\ncommunications tend to do more damage to themselves and the
\npublic rather than be a tool for rallying the right responses.<\/p>\n
Until officials on both sides acquire the skills to
\ncommunicate their messages we can, unfortunately expect more
\ninstances of brinkmanship when some effective communications
\nwould have done the trick. The problem is that the next time it
\nmay have gone too far for either side to pull back.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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