Australia-RI ties tested

Australia-RI ties tested

Alpha Amirrachman, Jakarta

Again, relations between Indonesia and its southern neighbor,
Australia, have been tested, this time by the case of Schapelle
Leigh Corby. This young former beautician was sentenced to 20
years in prison by the Denpasar District Court for smuggling 4.1
kilograms of marijuana into Bali.

The Australian public are outraged. Tim Lindsay, a professor
of Asian law at the University of Melbourne, argues that the
unprecedented frenzy of interest in Corby's fate doesn't mean
that it has some legal logic to it. Many also have begun to worry
that the level of hysteria on the part of the Australian public
has reached a worrying level of xenophobia (The Australian, May
30, 2005).

Aside from the rights and wrongs of the case, there are some
points worth considering.

First, it should be noted that excessive public and political
pressure can be perceived as a "new-colonial agenda" by some
sections in Indonesian society. The ultra-nationalists and
religious zealots, for example, may be gratuitously provoked by
this excessive Australian reaction to shoot their political
bullets. A political spat between both Australian and Indonesian
"xenophobists" is undesirable for all of us.

However, the Indonesian media have also played a role in
unfairly pre-judging Corby, as some of them portrayed her as a
"marijuana queen" before the verdict was handed down, which might
be considered a breach of journalistic ethics in influencing the
legal proceedings. This, too, might have ignited local sentiment
against Corby.

Second, the "intervention" can also disturb Indonesia's
struggle for the separation of powers. Australia has long been a
supporter of Indonesian legal reform, a perfect position that
could fundamentally help heighten security and economic
cooperation between the two countries, and greatly benefit
Australia as well. It is therefore crucial that Indonesia's hard-
won legal reform keeps progressing despite this case.

Third, one should try to observe the case through the lens of
sensitivity. I recall in the aftermath of the Bali blast. After
the broke down of the house of a suspected "terrorist" Muslim
family in Sydney by the Australian authority, Indonesia witnessed
a string of noisy daily demonstrations protesting against the
alleged inhumane treatment the Indonesian family endured.

At that time, some Indonesian politicians both ultra-
nationalists and religious fundamentalists enthusiastically
joined the chorus of protests, apparently not necessarily to
support the case, but to boost their political eminence and apply
pressure on the government.

This should give us some understanding of how the Australian
public would react if it were put in a "similar" situation. The
palpable difference is: The highly emotive Australian public
protest -- despite the expected rise in anti-Indonesia sentiment
-- would unlikely be followed by a string of bomb attacks, unlike
the cases in Indonesia, a place where violence and hostility have
almost become the norm.

Fourth, such emotive feeling and political tension escalating
from the case are an inevitable consequence of the two countries
living so "closely" as neighbors. If we could become involved in
a political row with Malaysia, a country with which Indonesia
shares so much culturally and ethnically, what more Australia,
which is so foreign both culturally and politically for most of
us.

The case should therefore become an impetus for the two
countries to continue to explore ways to foster understanding. I
recall during my stay in Australia one professor at the
University of New South Wales complained that the number of
Australian students studying the Indonesian program had dropped
significantly after the East Timor case and the 1997 Asian
economic crisis.

Another professor warns that the danger of this is that more
and more Australians would never fully grasp their northern
neighbor's character and the complexity of its society.

However, as the Chinese saying goes, "One hand cannot clap
alone", the Indonesian side should also follow suit by opening
more Australian studies programs in Indonesian universities. This
all can be done with the support from government-to-government or
university-to-university cooperation in exchanging the materials
or lecturers needed. Indonesia has always been so inward looking,
so it is timely for us now to strike a balance between an inward
and outward looking attitude.

Lastly, the case proves that the close proximity between the
two countries is not only geographical, but psychological as
well, and there are still fissures of understanding that have not
been filled.

So, is it possible for the people of the two countries to
compassionately embrace each other? One may be skeptical, but the
fact that some sections within the countries are attempting to
put the case into the proper perspective shows that a sensible
proportion of trust remains intact. Some Australian media have
urged the public to respect Indonesia's legal integrity, as have
the two governments.

It is therefore timely for the people of both countries, in
the spirit of neighborhood, to use this latest case wisely not
only for self-reflection, but also as a window of opportunity to
reach into each other's deeper consciousness.

The writer is an alumnus of the University of Sydney.