Keeping a cool head
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.