Malaysia and RI could have been one state<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The fraternal affection shared by the Indonesian
\nand Malaysian people at one point in history very nearly resulted
\nin mutual statehood.<\/p>\n
Two social scientists at an international conference titled
\n\"50 Years of National Revolution: Examination, Remembrance and
\nReflection\" noted yesterday that some of Indonesia's founding
\nfathers included the Malaysian peninsula as part of Indonesia's
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
\"During certain periods between the First and Second World
\nWars, the feeling of solidarity and camaraderie (between the two
\npeoples) envisioned the possibility of the Indonesian and
\nMalaysian territory now as one state or an integrated single
\npolitical unit,\" said Malaysian academic Firdaus Hj. Abdullah.<\/p>\n
As one of the speakers at the opening day of the three-day
\nconference, Firdaus explained the strong feeling of mutual stock,
\nor serumpun, that Malaysians share with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The feeling was forged by various ethnic, language and
\nreligious similarities and further reinforced by a political
\ncommonality of breaking free from the colonial bondage which both
\nnations endured -- the British ruling Malaysia and the Dutch in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Common struggle<\/p>\n
\"The fight against the British and Dutch colonial powers in
\nboth territories was regarded as a common struggle for the
\nindependence of the same country which would be called Indonesia
\nRaya or Melayu Raya,\" said the professor from the University of
\nMalaya in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Firdaus added: \"Between the early 1930s and the end of the
\n1940s the term Greater Indonesia was understood and acknowledged
\nas having the same meaning as Greater Melayu.\"<\/p>\n
Apparently a similar perception also prevailed among several
\nof Indonesia's founding fathers.<\/p>\n
Independence figures like Muhammad Yamin, Tan Malaka and
\nIndonesia's first president Sukarno were among those susceptible
\nto the idea.<\/p>\n
Aiko Kurasawa-Inomata, a professor at Nagoya University in
\nJapan, pointed out that the Committee for the Investigation of
\nIndonesian Independence (BPUPKI) actually voted to include
\nMalaysia, then called Malaya, as part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
During their occupation of Indonesia in World War II, the
\nJapanese formed the BPUPKI as a means of satisfying the
\nindependence demands of Indonesian nationalists.<\/p>\n
Created in May 1945, the BPUPKI was comprised of 63
\nIndonesians and seven non-voting Japanese. It was established to
\nset up the rudiments of the Indonesian state including the basic
\nform of the country and the territorial map.<\/p>\n
Kurasawa explained that the BPUPKI drew up three territorial
\ndefinitions: the first comprised of just the former Dutch East
\nIndies -- Indonesia's colonial name; the second incorporated the
\nDutch East Indies and Malaya but not Irian Jaya; the third option
\nincluded all the above and Irian Jaya plus North Borneo, East
\nTimor and the adjacent islands.<\/p>\n
Vote<\/p>\n
According to Kurasawa, during the vote, 39 Indonesian BPUPKI
\nmembers voted for the third option with Muhammad Yamin being the
\nmain advocator.<\/p>\n
\"Looking at the record of discussions carefully, many of the
\nmembers who were for inclusion of Malaya accepted it on the
\ncondition that 'if Malayan people want it, we won't refuse',\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Both she and Firdaus noted that three Malaysian leaders were
\nsent to Jakarta to attend the BPUPKI meeting to express the
\nMalayan desire to be included in the soon to be formed Indonesian
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Firdaus explained that the three Malayans were sent as
\nrepresentatives of an organization called the Kesatuan Rakyat
\nIndonesia Semenanjung (KRIS).<\/p>\n
\"KRIS sent three youths to meet Sukarno in Jakarta in order to
\nmake sure that Malaya was included in that territory,\" Firdaus
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
However by some quirk of history these aspirations never came
\nto fruition because the BPUPKI vote was overturned by the
\nJapanese high command.<\/p>\n
In a meeting with Japanese commander Marshal Terauchi in
\nVietnam on Aug. 11, 1945, Sukarno was told that the Indonesian
\nstate would comply with option number one.<\/p>\n
As Kurasawa described: \"The territory of independent Indonesia
\nwas clearly defined as the entire former East Indies which, until
\nthen, was not sure.\" (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-and-ri-could-have-been-one-state-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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