Delicate problems in Indonesia-Malaysia ties

Hanys Salmi, Kuala Lumpur

During the past six years, bilateral Malaysia-Indonesia relations have not shown much progress. In fact, while in the business sector relations are picking up, in the social/economic arena, the overall picture is gloomy.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdulah "Pak Lah" Ahmad Badawi is now very busy with internal affairs while reconstituting his international image from that of a foreign minister to that of a Prime Minister. As a result, he does not seem to have enough time to spearhead the regional initiatives his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad consistently pushed for. He simply does not have time to assess the possibility that the social pressures building up inside his giant neighbor -- Indonesia -- could spill across the Strait of Malacca and disrupt Malaysia's stability.

In Jakarta, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's shaky government is busy with presidential election preparations. Should she be replaced, Indonesia's next leader would need to spend much of his time pacifying the troubled domestic political climate and little time would be spared for streamlining potential factors that could disrupt harmony in relations with Malaysia.

The biggest bone of contention in bilateral relations is management of immigrant Indonesian workers. At present, according to official statistics, there are about 1.5 million foreign workers in Malaysia, some 1.2 million of whom are Indonesians. Of these, around 850,000 are illegal workers according to Malaysia's version, however in Jakarta, officials believe only 650,000 of them have entered Malaysia without proper immigration documents.

This aspect of bilateral relations was not a troubling issue when Soeharto and Mahathir were still in power. Their tough stance on the need to preserve harmony in neighborly relations seemed to keep such issues from becoming problems. But since they left office, the situation has changed beyond recognition.

The story began to change during Megawati's term. She was seen in Malaysia, and the region as a whole, as a weak leader in spite of her good structural relations with the Indonesian military. But during her term, we have seen the bilateral Indonesian- Malaysian relations decline in the socio-economic sector. She has not been able to set the right tone for proper management of the issue of Indonesian migrant workers, who are employed in many business sectors on the peninsula and on Sabah.

One of her administration's successes, however, has been the signing in Jakarta on May 10 of a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) by her Labor and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea and his Malaysian counterpart Fong Chan Oan. Still, this MOU is far from sufficient in that it does not cater to the real needs in the field.

The document is too broad in content given that it does not mention the aspect of legal protection of workers. It only deals with recruitment, placement and repatriation of workers at the end of their contracts.

In Malaysia, the government is getting tougher than it ever has been on that matter. At present, nobody can do anything to help Indonesian illegal workers get jobs. Malaysian citizens or foreigners found guilty of protecting illegal immigrants can be fined 50,000 ringgit and caned six times in public or jailed for five years.

But the main problems all emanate from Indonesia, not Malaysia. The government in Jakarta seems to be too lenient and tolerant toward brokers providing passports to would-be immigrants to Malaysia.

The regional/provincial chapters of the Indonesian immigration service are to blame for this. A good number of companies are acting without any controls as passport brokers at many points of embarkation. Though they charge workers a good amount of fees to get passports, the legality of the documents are always a problem, especially when the workers arrive in Malaysia.

In Malaysia itself, there have been mixed opinions about its giant neighbor's reform movement. Some say it is good to imitate Indonesia's restless adventures, but a great majority of the population believe that the Malaysian system is already a good model for the region that other countries can adopt.

But on the political front, there is a growing perception of the need to retain Malaysia's political identity as a truly independent nation. Against this light, Malaysia is not willing to deal with the "dirt" from its neighbor's bad image on such issues as the fight against terrorism.

Politically therefore, Prime Minister Badawi is likely to drive Malaysia steadily along this course, and in so doing, he may not be willing to be too tolerant with Indonesia's socio- economic burden. And Indonesian politicians have to examine this trend thoroughly if they wish to turn their country into another stabilizing factor in the region.

Given those circumstances, Indonesia cannot expect to see again a tolerant neighbor in Malaysia as it became accustomed to during Mahathir's time.

The main topic of concern in Malaysia is promotion of business competitiveness, instead of an over-tolerance of such production factors as blue-collar workers for which Malaysian industries can find replacements.

But because of this, a potential for fractures in bilateral relations is really great now. Frustrated with its poor manpower management, the Indonesian government may still hope that Malaysia would forever be a good reservoir to absorb its millions of unemployed citizens, who have the very minimum of skills.

No, Indonesians must now learn the truth; that unless they upgrade the quality of their workers, soon it will be very difficult for them to get jobs in Malaysia. In such a situation, the warmth in bilateral relations is bound to disappear and suspicion will replace it.

In Malaysia, people are wondering what would happen if one of the two retired military generals running for Indonesia's presidency were to win. If either of them sits in the presidential chair in Jakarta, the immediate impression would be that Indonesia would have a strong leadership, perhaps quite similar to what Soeharto exhibited for 32 years.

The writer is a researcher on Indonesian issues at a Kuala Lumpur-based company. He can be reached at hanyssalmi@malaysia.com