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?