Neighbors learn about reality of migrants

Neighbors learn about reality of migrants

Karim Raslan, Lawyer, Kuala Lumpur

As Dr Mahathir prepares for his two-day visit to Bali,
Malaysians must come to terms with the changing nature of
bilateral relations with Indonesia. Having emerged from the 1997
financial crisis relatively unscarred, Kuala Lumpur's current
level of confidence is at odds with theself-doubt and in-fighting
that plagues Jakarta. The altered dynamic as well as the
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's taciturn personality places
virtually all the responsibility for the relationship with our
largest neighbor on the Malaysians.

Of course this is extremely unfair because we are then forced
to steer the course more carefully, avoiding the shoals and the
conflict. Moreover Malaysians have to realize that our growing
prosperity and assertiveness is creating waves around the region.

Basically we're saying: "Hey, we're not Singaporeans! We
understand human relations and diplomacy. We're the nice guys --
the popular members of ASEAN. We don't lecture people or talk
down to them. You love us because we're thoughtful and straight-
dealing. After all aren't we the practitioners of various
'prosper thy neighbor' policies?"

In this respect we're very outspoken about our close affinity
with the Indonesians. We like to talk about our special
relationship: we're serumpun (or one people). Ignoring the
differences of politics and economics we assert -- and
confidently, that culture, faith and extensive family relations
have linked us together inextricably.

However, my experience as a frequent visitor to Indonesia has
forced me to come to terms with a very different image of my
country. The government's decision to take a far more rigorous
approach to the issue of illegal foreign workers has led to some
unforeseen consequences around the region.

The enhanced penalties -- ranging from whipping and caning as
well as the images of chaos at our crowded ports have done a
great deal to alter Indonesian perception of Malaysia. For a
start, I am unsure whether we can hold ourselves out as the
champions of the Third World. Instead of being viewed as a fellow
"victim" -- beaten down and abused by the white man, Malaysians
appear to have become one of the oppressors.

As one incensed Indonesian, Rio Helmi, the photographer and
NGO activist says angrily: "The way you're treating Indonesian
workers is yet another example of Malaysian hypocrisy and
inhumanity. You've extracted all you want from them and now
you're just tossing them out! This only reinforces the image of
Malaysians as being self-righteous and arrogant."

Certainly the local media have been gorging on horror stories
about Malaysia. A recent edition of the influential newsmagazine
Gatra has a front cover picture of a young sarong-wearing man
confined to wooden stocks by his ankle. Alongside the image are
the words "Dari Malaysia Membawa Gila" (He was mad when he
returned from Malaysia).

Up until recently my experiences in Indonesia have been very
different. Malaysia is the 'promised' land: a place of work, high
incomes and hope. Almost inevitably, having concluded an
interview and packed away my notebook, my interlocutor will
hesitate and then ask haltingly: "Pak, why don't you take me back
to Malaysia with you?.

In Surabaya a prostitute I interviewed insisted that I hired
her as a servant. She declared that it was the only way she
could be saved from the streets! When I seemed reluctant she
reassured me that she'd learn how to cook Malay food. She
declared: "I'll go to the Padang restaurants: They'll teach me."

In East Java in particular, everyone seems to have a brother
or a sister, a neighbor or a friend who's worked in Malaysia.
Sabah, Johor and Selangor are the most popular states for
Indonesian workers and most have either been household servants
or plantation workers. However, recently I've found that I've had
to be firmer when talking to them. I don't want to encourage them
to venture abroad if the reality of working in Malaysia for
example, is so fraught with danger: It just wouldn't be fair.

"No," I'll tell them, "working in Malaysia isn't as easy as it
once used to be." This silences them immediately. They know
exactly what I'm talking about: They've seen the images on the
evening television news. They've also read about the thousands of
panic-stricken Indonesian workers crowding into Port Kelang and
Tawau to wait to board transport ships that will take them
home.

As the full impact of reality hits home, we both fall silent,
thinking about what we've just said to one another. And then, the
tone of the conversation changes slightly and the once-
enthusiastic prospective migrant worker will lean closer and say:
"Yes, you're right. My brother's friend worked in the peninsular
and he was totally ripped off! He lost everything. Everyone
hassled him and he lost all his savings trying to leave."

Of course, some people would argue that the sudden shift in
tone is inevitable. Wasn't I essentially turning them down?
Wasn't I denying them an opportunity to live in Malaysia?
Malaysians must learn to handle our large, lumbering and
enfeebled neighbor with a degree of straight-forwardness, respect
and kindliness.

However over the past few months after countless trips to
Indonesia and having traveled all over the archipelago I'm
beginning to realize that our Indonesian neighbors are a good
deal less committed to the idea of "serumpun" -- one tribe --
than I at first thought.

But the good humor soon fades after we've dissected the
differences between Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia,
compared Ibu Megawati with Pak Mahathir and disagreed over the
recent Williams Cup. Inevitable comparisons extend beyond the
banal into the more sensitive. Indonesians become touchy about
the ramshackle nature of their cities, the barely controlled
chaos that passes for order. The lawlessness and the thievery in
the corporate boardrooms.

The sense of embarrassment. Many are ashamed by the extent to
which their once great nation has fallen. Of course it's the more
educated Indonesians who are the more chastened by encounters
with us. Why is KL so neat and Jakarta so chaotic? In the past
when Singapore was their only point of comparison the discrepancy
between a nation of over two hundred million and a city-state of
three million made the comparison ridiculous.

Somehow with Malaysia it's been different: The similarities
are too pronounced to be ignored. Both are majority Muslim and
Malay. There is a delicacy and a nuance. Have we handled our
relationship as well as we could? Did we treat the Indonesians as
well as we could? Is this how truly good neighbors treat one
another?