Keeping a cool head
Given the penchant of many Indonesians to react to differences with the heart rather than the head, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's call on Tuesday to end the ongoing spat between Indonesia and Malaysia over the expulsion of illegal Indonesian workers from that country is both timely and wise.
The long-standing neighborly ties between the two nations should not be damaged by emotional reactions from either side over the issue, the President said, as quoted by Pramono Anung, deputy secretary-general of Megawati's party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
The following day, on Wednesday, Vice President Hamzah Haz duly underscored Megawati's words when he stressed the need for officials on both sides to exercise self-restraint and to try to resolve the problem cordially. There should be no more controversial statements from Indonesian officials. "We have to respect Malaysian regulations," Hamzah said.
What must have triggered these latest cooling-down pleas from the government is probably the exchange of strong words between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur and the retaliatory action that has been taken, either in Jakarta or in Medan and elsewhere, in reaction to the recent expulsion of some 480,000 illegal Indonesian workers from Malaysia.
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, for example, warned Malaysia on Tuesday to "be aware" of public outcry caused by the deportation -- pretty strong words coming from a man in his position. On Monday, in a rowdy rally in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, angry protesters burned a Malaysian flag and toppled the gate fronting the embassy compound before they were stopped by security personnel.
Relations became even more strained during the week when news broke that 19 Malaysians had been detained by police in a raid on a bar in Medan on Monday. They were held for several hours at a police station and interrogated because they could not produce their passports at the time. This incident prompted Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar to issue a travel warning to Malaysians to avoid visiting Indonesia if possible. He also asked the Indonesian government to guarantee the personal safety of Malaysian nationals residing in Indonesia.
More soothing words came during the week from Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. While assuring Malaysia that Indonesia was not seeking revenge for the deportations, Susilo called on Malaysian officials not to issue more "disproportionate" statements regarding the incident. Nevertheless, despite the efforts to cool the situation down, the controversy over the issue remains.
It looks, at this juncture of the controversy, that it would be as well for Indonesia, and for Malaysia, to take a few points into consideration. It may be true that certain sectors of the Malaysian economy might suffer, at least for a while, as their Indonesian workers are forced to leave the country. However, when all is said and done, that is Malaysia's problem. There is nothing that Indonesians can do but admit that it is Malaysia's business to govern that country the way it sees fit.
This is the time that Indonesians must start looking at the problem from a more realistic point of view. The core of the issue is that Indonesia is at present too poor to feed its own population. With this in mind, Indonesia's first and foremost duty is to put the economy back in order, and do so without delay, so that enough jobs may be created within the shortest possible time.
As for other countries in this region, it is as well for them to realize that it is in their own self-interest to assist Indonesia, in whatever way possible, on its path toward economic recovery. Media reports of thousands of job seekers continuing to probe national borders for openings into neighboring countries should dispel any lingering doubts over the truth of this statement. That old spirit of ASEAN solidarity may not be so worthless after all.