Ignore the trivial, think of great things we can do

By Johan Jaafar (NST)

HERE we go again: a group of angry Indonesians burning the Malaysian flag. This time they are angry because our tourism board allegedly used the tarian pendet, believed to have originated from Bali, as one of the items in the advertisement to portray Malaysia as "Truly Asia".

Malaysians are clueless as to why their neighbours react the way they do. When the Ambalat issue came to the fore, very few Malaysians knew what the fuss was all about. In Indonesia, watching their television and reading their papers, nothing less than preparedness to go to war was in the air.

When the Indonesians protested about the use of reog in our tourism promotion advertisement last year, few Malaysians understood what the commotion was about. Reog originated from Ponorogo in Java. To add salt to the wound, statements made by some of us in response to the controversy were either idiotic or downright insensitive.

It is perplexing that the points of contention between saudara serumpun (brothers from the same stock) — where similarities abound and differences are few — are in the cultural realm. Nusantara is supposed to describe people of the same origin, speaking the same language and practising largely the same culture.

In fact, Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia evolved almost alongside each other. The existence of various committees set up to facilitate the development of both languages, including the coining of words and phrases, had been in place since the 1960s. Of course, it is easier said than done. Both languages developed their own nuances and idiosyncrasies. Back then, Indonesian writers were household names in Malaysia and P. Ramlee did more that just entertain — he united the various ethnic groups that made up the Malay diaspora.

Things changed, in fact drastically, over the years. Economic necessity required Malaysia to bring in Indonesian workers and labourers. They are not the migrants who seek to adapt and live here forever. The tenaga kerja Indonesia (TKI) became the source of labour to power Malaysia's incredible development. There were some bad apples who became criminals while others were abused by their employers. Tensions ran high. Diplomatic relations were stretched thin. While the leaders made every attempt to mitigate the backlash, on the ground, things worsened. For some years already, the relationship between the two countries has been at its lowest ebb.

Take the case of some irresponsible bloggers messing around with Indonesia's national anthem. The response was furious. On their side, some even desecrated our Negaraku as a form of retaliation. These people are using the Internet to sow hatred between the nations.

If the comments are to be believed, we actually have nothing. The popular children's song Enjit Enjit Semut is said to originate from Jambi in Sumatra, Rasa Sayang and Burung Kakak Tua are Maluku songs and Anak Kambing Saya from Nusa Tenggara. Even Jali-jali is said to be the product of native Betawi (Jakarta) and Soleram is from Riau. Of course, wayang kulit is said to be theirs, so too the angklung, batik and even keris. They label it "produk budaya Indonesia" (Indonesian cultural products) which we have no right to claim as ours. This negates the fact that culture is never a product of any one society. Culture being dynamic evolves, adapts and goes through the process of "local colouring". Take the case of the great epic Mahabaratha from India. In Indonesia, it became Pendawa Lima. Ramayana became Hikayat Seri Rama. Many of the stories that became known as Aesop's Fables have similarities with local animal stories, or vice versa.

The Indonesian airwaves are full of experts, scholars and cultural scientists who claim, perhaps preposterously, that Malaysia has no indigenous culture and thus we have an inferiority complex. The only logical thing to do is to steal Indonesian culture.

A lead story in one of its most influential newspapers said it all: the problem for Indonesia was perlindungan budaya lemah (weak cultural protection). According to the report, they do not even have complete data on the various cultural expressions in the country. As a result, "seni budaya Indonesia sering di-klaim negara lain" (Indonesian arts and culture are always being claimed by other nations). The report mentions the fact that out of 33 provinces in Indonesia, only three have a complete inventory of their cultural products.

The issue will not go away for many years to come. Things are getting a bit out of hand. Malaysia-bashing is a cause for worry. True, our "special relationship" would not be jeopardised by the noisy few and those flag-burners. But, sadly, it is becoming a daily occurrence and it is fast seeping into the psyche of the people that we are nothing more than daylight robbers of their culture.

Interestingly, the debate on Malaysian buccaneering is triggering serious soul-searching among Indonesians themselves. There are as many opinion pieces demanding that Indonesians be wary of blaming others for their woes or for their weaknesses. Alleging that Malaysia "robbed" many of their cultural items simply denies the fact that quite a substantial number of our people came from there. They brought along wayang kulit, barongan, ketoprak and wayang geduk from Java and they are just as possessive of them as their brethren in Ponorogo, Japara or Jogjakarta.

We, too, are at fault for taking things for granted. For one, we are at the mercy of a few spiteful leader writers and editors with vested interests. We ought to articulate our position eloquently in their press. The fact remains that Malaysians are simply lazy to respond even to the most scathing condemnation. We must work for the betterment of the relationship between the two peoples. There is a limit to what the leaders can do. The media plays a critical role in bridging the gap in understanding and perception. The people, too, must play a role. We can't be in a position where the people of the two nations are too close, yet too far.

 

Mario Rustan wrote an interesting piece in The Jakarta Post recently. He has this to say to his fellow countrymen: "If you find an item on the Internet as demeaning Indonesia, ignore it, and move on with your own priorities. Stop getting angry about trivial things so easily when we have the potential to do great things for ourselves."

We should do the same, too.