Part 2 of 2: Sovereignty can't be shelved

Part 2 of 2: Sovereignty can't be shelved

J. Soedjati Djiwandono, Jakarta

By contrast, the Malaysian leader has been so cocky that he
has lost his sympathy for his largest neighbor, which is still
struggling with a large number of domestic problems. He has been
treating Indonesia's illegal migrant workers in a less than
humane way. And compared to Western countries, as well as Japan,
Malaysia's infringement on and claim to what is rightly under
Indonesia's sovereignty as an archipelagic nation, a status
recognized by the International Law of the Sea Convention,
Malaysia has not been that sympathetic with Indonesia, shows that
the neighboring country lacks empathy for Indonesia, which is
still struggling to overcome the bitter aftermath of the tsunami
disaster, the most tragic calamity that country has ever
suffered.

Many Indonesians are enchanted by the Malaysian terms used to
describe Indonesia, such as negeri jiran ("next-door neighbor",
serumpun (of the same ethnic stock) and seagama (of the same
religion -- Muslim), not realizing that the last two terms are
contrary to the Indonesian concept of nationhood. Indeed, mainly
because of its economic success and a lack of understanding about
other important aspects of the country, many Muslims in Indonesia
tend to look up to Malaysia as a model to emulate.

Because of their Islamic aspirations, many of them tend to
ignore Indonesia's Youth Pledge of 1928, which declared that
Indonesia's young generation were determined to have one nation,
the Indonesian nation, one fatherland, Indonesia, and one
language, the Indonesian language, never "one ethnicity" nor "one
religion", a pledge that perhaps Malaysians fail to understand.
By contrast, we never hear the term "Malaysian nation". And it is
indeed doubtful if, in theoretical terms, we can call Malaysia a
"nation state".

In fact, in terms of anthropology and in the context of the
language family tree, I may well be a Malay, although I am a non-
Muslim. But in Malaysia, a Malay is by definition a Muslim. A
Chinese is called a Malay only after he embraces Islam.

This commentary is not a recommendation for war. But any form
of peaceful solution to the present conflict over Ambalat must
begin with Malaysia abandoning its unilateral claim to
sovereignty over Ambalat. Then we can begin to talk about
cooperation. This is essential.

It is to be noted that Indonesia consists of around 17
thousand islands, only about four thousand of which are
inhabited. And thousands of these uninhabited islands are even as
yet unnamed. For Indonesia to give way at this stage would render
itself more vulnerable in the future to the threat of another
infringement on its sovereignty.

Indonesia at the moment is very weak, especially with the
threat of national disintegration hanging over it and with a new
leader weak in leadership and lacking in competence. But one
positive implication of this crisis may well be that it will help
strengthen our national unity and inculcate a greater awareness
of the value of our national identity. I am not thinking in terms
of chauvinism, but patriotism. More than the Malaysians,
Indonesians are mostly acutely aware and proud of their long and
bitter struggle for sovereignty and independence from
colonialism.

Malaysia may be thinking of the possibility of depending on
the assistance of the other member states of the FPDA (Five Power
Defense Arrangement) in the event of an armed conflict with
Indonesia. But anyone with a sound mind should be aware of the
likelihood that to let the current crisis between Malaysia and
Indonesia degenerate into a major war would certainly create
serious instability in the whole of Southeast Asia, and indeed
ultimately the whole world.

Thus it would be too costly to let the current confrontation
over Ambalat to escalate by providing support for Malaysia in its
daring, reckless and irresponsible adventure. But sovereignty is
the life and identity of a nation state.

The writer is a political analyst.