As a people, Indonesians have become more and more hot-headed by the minute. It is actually something to be ashamed of as hot-headedness is one of the typical signs of being uneducated (thus not being able to keep one’s cool).
Not only are we getting more hot-headed, it seems that we are also falling deeper into ignorance. Which is a shame, because there should be no more excuses for one to be stupid and ignorant seeing as there is almost no restriction on the information flow into the country, nor is there a shortage of ways for a person to educate one’s self autodidactically (by ways of internet, television, books etc).
We have also become a nation that is stubbornly disrespectful to other nations; people who are different to us; and also our own culture. And by our culture I mean our indigenous culture, not the one you see nowadays in Indonesia or Indonesian television which is full of telenovelas, gossip shows and rich people/celebrities sporting their hedonistic lives on national television for everybody to drool over.
The upside of being this way is none, while the downsides are many. By being hot-headed and ignorant, we often miss simple truths and even more often this trait will make it easy for us to be provoked by the smallest of things. The most recent issue that has taken Indonesia like a storm is how our Malay brothers and sisters from Malaysia are “thieves” of our so-called culture.
While it may come as a surprise to some Indonesians, we should all acknowledge that many Malaysians have Indonesian ancestors, whether from Sumatra, Kalimantan or Java. Even the great Malaysian actor/comedian P Ramlee’s ancestry can be traced back to Aceh, where his father is from.
And let’s not forget the Malaysian students who went to Indonesia five or six decades ago to study, many of which ended up marrying Indonesians who they brought back to Malaysia and produced Malaysian-Indonesian off-springs with.
So basically what I’m saying is as it is apparent that Indonesia is made up of people with Chinese/Indian/Dutch/Portuguese/Arab/Polynasian/Aborigine ancestry, the same goes for Malaysia. The difference is that in addition to the Malay, Chinese and Indian ancestries that the Malaysians have, Indonesian ancestry is also in the mix, hence the many similarities in our foods, clothing materials, music, etc.
Yet we accuse them of stealing this and that, from our culture to our cuisine. While in fact we are both originally Malay people (the race of which people from the northernmost part of Thailand and people from the Philippines also belong to) sharing many of the same culture and cuisine traits that it’s a little absurd (not to mention difficult) to claim which is whose first to be stolen by the other second.
Personally, instead of calling Malaysia thieves, I think we should ‘steal’ something from them. You all know how in the 60s and 70s we were much more progressed and advanced than them that they sent many of their students to study in Indonesia and hired many teachers and lecturers to teach their younger generation in Malaysia. What I don’t get is why it’s the other way around now, six decades later.
We all know Malaysians aren’t perfect and neither are we, but I do salute their determination and ability to turn up trumps, as today it’s us who send our kids to study in Malaysia; it’s us who are less progressed and are less advanced (technology and economy wise), and it’s us who are lagging behind. I think we should learn from them and ‘steal’ their tips and tricks in pulling a 180 from being blah to hurrah!
After the lengthy explanation above on the origins of both nations and all my positive observation about Malaysia, you may:
a. hate me, or
b. think, “Ok, so we share many traits with Malaysia, but it still doesn’t explain them using the Balinese pendet dance, because Unlike Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java, Bali is very specific and unique, that their culture is not found anywhere but Bali.”
For those of you who chose ‘a’ I will advise you to take a number and wait in line. For those who opted ‘b’ Ok, point well taken. But the thing is, the recent debacle over the Pendet dance that we claimed to have been used by the Malaysian government in an advertisement they have made to promote their country, an issue that turned countless Indonesians angry, with our Minister of Tourism hastily sending a letter to his Malaysian counterpart, demanding the ad campaign be removed, is a more complicated than it seemed.
Turns out, the whole thing was a misunderstanding and a BIG mistake on our part. And let me emphasize on the BIG MISTAKE. Apparently out of the 250 million or so people living in the beautiful archipelago we call Indonesia, none of us did our homework thoroughly before blasting bullets to the so-called ‘enemy of the state’ a.k.a, Malaysia because,
- The advertisement wasn’t made by the Malaysian government or anybody in Malaysia,
- The ‘advertisement’ isn’t even an advertisement to promote their country as we have made to believe,
- The ‘advertisement’ was an ad created by the Asian Discovery channel to promote one of their TV shows. The TV station have acknowledged their mistake and apologized for it, after where some embarrassed Indonesians re-directed their anger at, what with Discovery channel being owned by the usual suspects and all (and by usual suspects I mean Americans and Jews – who most Indonesians believe are the evil culprits who monopolize all information flow in the world *yawns* thus are TRUE ‘enemy of the state’ as opposed to Malaysians because at the end of the day, we are all a big beige/brown nation sharing the same culture, language and religion)
Yet after knowing that this parade of anger and belligerence towards our Malaysian peers is baseless, did we apologize to them and acknowledge the truth publicly? No. We just swept the truth under the rug and continued calling Malaysia names. Basically we remained shameless and stubborn bullies, as always.
Some people went as far as protesting in front of the Malaysian Embassy over their ‘unauthorized use of the Pendet dance’ in their ‘mysterious advertisement’ and a small radical group even performed ‘raids’ on Malaysians on the streets of Jakarta, against stern warnings from the Indonesian Police Force. Why the Indonesian media blew the accusations out of proportion which created havoc but didn’t really publish the truth after they found out (with the exception of The Jakarta Globe), is beyond me.
But as I wrote in one of my older posts, the Indonesian media is as responsible to many of the things happening in our country as the Indonesian people themselves (who are easily provoked by these so-called ‘news’ and then usually go run amok like a drunken bull before getting all their facts and figures straight).
Now as if that’s not embarrassing enough, our resurfaced accusations of Malaysians using one of our folk songs called Terang Bulan and turning it into their National Anthem has really put us in a shit-hole.
With this new finding, Malaysians can easily accuse us as thieves ourselves. The question remains, Who’s the thief now? Who stole what from who? And, Who is the thief first?
Why are we that easy to provoke, especially when it comes to matters of religion and the relationship of Indonesia and Malaysia? Weren’t we at one point ONE people? Why do we keep on blasting Malaysians for ‘stealing’ our cultural heritage but don’t do much to promote it ourselves? Why do we get angry when a country ‘steals’ our cultural heritage but feel at ease about stealing other people’s culture? (This is in relation to the fact that the Indonesian ‘indigenous’ culture is actually heavily influenced by the Chinese, Arabs, Indians, Aborigines, European, Portuguese, other South East Asian countries, etc.)
Now as a person and a member of our nation we must all ask ourselves. Why are we easily provoked? We should stop this silliness and learn to contain our emotions. Most importantly, true to the saying that those who live in a glass house should not throw stones, we should be aware of our own weaknesses, of the things that we ‘stole’ before accusing other people of ‘stealing’ anything.
Think about it, maybe the truest ‘culture’ we have now is corruption, collusion and nepotism. And that’s not even something to be proud about.
are we indonesians have too thin of a skin? why are we so easily offended by small things? why are we so damn sensitive? is this the fruit of having a repressive dictatorship ruled our live for so many years?
“I have no idea, but we as a people, have a lack of self esteem thus the over sensitivity, methinks..”
[...] Indonesia vs. Malaysia: Why are Indonesians easily provoked? 09.03.09 | 1 Comment [...]
I, too, feel wary of this ridiculous ””battle”” between Indonesia and Malaysia. I, too, have been asking and encouraging people to urge our government to do something constructive to promote our art and culture. But I am accused by other Indonesians for being non-patriotic and being able to criticise our government.Ive been telling everybody that Malaysian tourism TVC is all over UK, but I””ve never seen an Indonesian tourism promotion. Not even once. So don””t blame the world if they know that Borneo belongs to Malaysia, or that Malaysia is -indeed- Truly Asia! We could “shout” at twitte and other social networks, we could hack Malaysian websites, we could arrange a demonstration in front of Malaysian embassy and burn their flag, but truth to be told, the world still doesn””t hear anything about Indonesia”’’s art.Why don””t fix it before it”’’s too late?
“Well said, nit”
Ini Wimar Witoelar nulis di Jakarta Post mengenai hal ini http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/09/01/a-foreign-policy-posture-move-indonesia-forward.html
Thank you for sharing your views. Bravo! It takes courage to write such an impressive article. Here is my view as a Malaysian:It is already bad enough to be hated just because we are Muslims. It is just like rubbing salt on wounds when Indonesians kept calling us thieves. I am a Bugis descendant living in Malaysia, like it or not, I am Malaysian and I have every right to practice the Bugis”” way of life. It is a fact that we have to share our cultures as a form of preserving the arts. The Korean martial art, Taekwondo, is recognized around the world because they choose to share their knowledge. After all, sharing is caring.
“Exactly. I don”t think there is a pure culture anymore aside from the Chinese, Japanese and Indians, cos theirs are quite ancient and very original. The rest of us are just like a blur, we have culture that are influenced by others..”
I guess if there are no important matters to be dealt with then the spare time can be spent Malaysia bashing.The pendet dance “issue” was so not an issue.
“Exactly!”
When I read about call for ”war” between Indonesia and Malaysia, I feel threatened and in same time, sad. If reality comes true, do Indonesian feel we Malaysian Muslim willing to lay bullet on their chest? Do they think we would kill our very own close brother to their death?Indonesia is a country with the most Muslim in the world. I believe faith in Islam always hinder act of murder of a human regardless of religion, race. I tried to understand the feeling of indonesian as they feel robbed of culture. But I swear to Allah, if you ever want to claim every culture in Malaysia Malay take it as you please… we don”t even care.
I””m regularly surprised at the ””childishness”” displayed by folk who believe that they ””own”” something ephemeral.
The human race has migrated since it emerged from Africa, so no one nationality can, for example, claim cave paintings as being part of their culture and the technique of wax resist decoration (batik) arrived in Indonesia from Pacific islanders. Music refrains travel through the airwaves and is rarely totally original – we ””recognise”” melodies and rhythms as being ””in tune”” with our bodies and/or emotions.No modern inventions (eg. TV, electricity) are truly the work of one person or nationality, so for any country to even think of copywriting a piece of their culture seems to be the height of insecurity. As Valris writes above, “sharing is caring”, so this spat is very much a childish tantrum and quite sad really.
“Agree 100% with what you said.”
“Why are we easily provoked?”, you asked.””Cos it is our trait: Dumb. Remember our history, how easily we were trapped by own disputes, with interests of other power (Portuguese, Dutch), and later by components in our own society:military, political groups, etc. Use a bit religious and ethnicity sentiments, and … bingo. No need scientific theory, just stir in the mud and the process will automatically run.
“So easy yah buat bikin orang kita kebakaran jenggot. Sementara pas org2 kebakaran jenggot karena suatu hal yg gak penting, si maling2 ini yg pertama ngomporin sibuk ngejarah harta benda.. hehehe”
at the moment I could only think both countries have acutely inferiority complex and superiority complex to each other.
“and the fact that both nations are like big and little brothers, both are trying to prove themselves. sad, actually..”
thank you for the refreshing notes. i was about to lose hope on life and the world in general, after swamped by ganyang malaysia blogs. i heard about it before, about anti malaysian things, but it never sinked in, but this time, it started to really sinked in. i was shattered! there goes my favourite sundanese food. there goes my solo batek supplies. there goes my monthly bandung trips. there goes my ever warm feelings of indonesians that i met, at work, home, or on the street, as relatives. how do i explain to my kids that my great grandfather sailed from jawa islands, and my grandma was from acheh. so much hatred, and so much anger. i heard that the indonesian military crossed the ambalat 13 times, and malaysia 1 time. however, none published by malaysian media. wont even mention about the pendet, songs, and batek, or, i will feel so stupid for the rest of my life. what i can say is that, if only these energy, creativity, anger, and hate, can be channelled to nation building programmes, that would be wonderful. i now realized what knowledge and education means. it means freedom! it means defense against being used by others, manipulated by others, and able to think freely on your own, and whats good and bad. thank god, for the knowledge and education
“don”t worry, not all Indonesians are like that pak shokor, you can still come to Indonesia and eat your favorite foods, I think.. And it’’s wishful thinking to wish that all the anger and hate etc can be channeled to something positive. I know I sound like a pessimist, but that’’s because I am.”
hi. juz wanna say:stop the hatred and spread the love..nice onepeace from malaysian who has indonesian father and malaysian mother..
“Thanks amal!”
at certain point, i don””t like what those things which have been claimed as theirs. but i also don””t like those people who acted in extreme ways such as burned this and that. above all, i hate the way Indonesian people treat their cultures! seriously!
“Yeah, there’’s a lack of respect and love towards our own culture.”
Dear mbak rima, thanks for dropping your comments on my article Pihak””>http://main-conspiracies.blogspot.com/2009/09/pihak-ketiga-dalam-konflik-indonesia.html“>Pihak Ketiga dalam Konflik Indonesia Malaysia ..i appreciate your opinion and the purpose of those article is giving another perspective in viewing this matter between indonesia-malaysia, rathr than being “mad” or angry to malaysian..please note that those article doens””t intends to blame christian s the third party..please read those article as a whole not as asingle page..btw,i do agree with your post why indonesian i easly provoked…that”’’s why in my opinion, rather than think “shorter”, mny indonesian people should learn think “deeper”..so that they””re not easliy provoked…
“Thanks. Already replied..”
Whoa!! at last, i can find an Indo blogger that can i admire because of her cool.. oppss.. i rather called it “Kepala Dingin”… just borrow your word, i””ll return it just now..
Sis, the truth is, we the MALAY in here, just have no idea, on what have just happened, everything reported by your media was so mean, even can””t be imaginable by my mind, we are practicing what are has been inherited to us, by our forefather, whose same like yours..Ah, not to late to wish you happy Eid, Maaf Lahir dan Batin..
“Thank you, maaf lahir batin to you too. I am also sad that this happened. Of course I am also sad to sometimes see Malaysians who are so arrogant and who think that they are better than Indonesians. But that’’s another story”
spot on. since i””ve had enough with our fellow Indonesians who is stubborn enough for calling Malaysians names. greetings from me.
“Greetings as well..”
Hi Im glad as an Indonesian you are able to view constructively at the issue. I have been holidaying to your country these past few years as I enjoy the rich cultural heritage, the scenery but importantly the hospitality of its people. However as many other Malaysians Im perplexed at why some Indonesians are so angry at us and some of the accusations made are really unfair. Especially on the issue of the abuse of maid. Instead of accusing us of abuse, exploitation of cheap labour please bear in mind as an example my maid is being RM600/ per month with free lodgings and food. Thats a lot of money for a middle income familiy like us.We employ her as she”’’s hardworking, a Muslim and reliable. It is high time the Indonesians face the reality and question why do their citizens on their own accord have to workoverseas to earn a livelihood, instead of accusing malaysians of abusing and exploiting its people. Please bear in mind as quoted by your anbassador they are more than 1 miliion Indonesian workers in Malaysia. And some of them has decided to stay here permanently. At the same time we malaysians should also rethink on our dependability on foreigh labour. The truth is malaysia is not a rich country and we are facing real imporatant issues. Just open the Malaysian newspaper and you would have an idea.
“I know, both countries have their own source of headaches, which is why trivial things like the fight over ”culture” irks me bad. There are other things more important to sort out, like what you have said in your comment. Thanks for commenting by the way.”
Thanks dude… It”’’s just sad… I have friends who are indonesians… Indonesians are basically friendly people…. I find myself comfortable talking to them down here regardless of what they do down here in Malaysia….You have a very beautiful country… I certainly wish I could go to some of your tourists spots in the future….I just wish we can just get along…. Most of us in Malaysia comes from Indonesia anyway… my ancestors comes from padang in indonesia… so I wouldn””t blame you guys if you want to take the credit for some of the cultural origins that we have here (eg wayang kulit, kain batik etc).. It”’’s totally understandable… Just kindly not to go to the extreme by declaring war with us… Indonesia has a lot more to offer than Malaysia…
“Well, both countries have a lot to offer actually and I really don”t know what started this whole thing. It’’s a bit stupid, I think, to have this spat over trivial issues, especially when deep down we are the same people..”
it”””’’s so dumb that malaysia n indonesia r having a war even i””””m malaysian are not on any side.
“Good on you”
the reason why indonesian people is easily provoked is because most of indonesian doesnt get a proper education .. so their mentality is low and easily get provoked
“True..”
Sesama Penyolong Jangan Saling MendahuluiMinggu, 6 September 2009 | 03:00 WIBRemy SyladoKompas ikut membikin ramai klaim-klaiman Indonesia terhadap Malaysia, mencantumkan judul lagu ”Terang Bulan” sebagai ciptaan orang Indonesia.Sebelumnya beberapa brodkas TV stel yakin mencocokkan lagu kebangsaan Malaysia ”Negaraku” dengan lagu ”Terang Bulan”. Malahan seseorang yang mengaku anak Sjaiful Bachri, pemusik Indonesia yang pernah ”lari” ke Malaysia, sebagai pencipta ”Terang Bulan”.Salah satu, jika bukan satu-satunya media pers Indonesia pada 1957 yang memuat berita tentang ”Terang Bulan” menjadi lagu kebangsaan Malaysia adalah majalah Musika No 1 Th I September 1957. Majalah yang dipimpin Wienaktoe itu menurunkan berita berjudul ”Negaraku” sebagai berikut: ”Melodi lagu ’Terang Bulan’ jang kesohor itu achirnja dengan resmi diterima sebagai lagu kebangsaan Malaya pada hari kemerdekaan tanggal 31 Agustus 1957 j.l. dengan diberi nama dan tekst baru ’Negaraku’. Pihak RRI dan Pemerintah Indonesia untuk menjatakan penghargaannja, telah melarang diputar dan dimainkan atau diperdengarkan melodi tsb pada setiap kedjadian biasa”.Kalau kita membaca Het Nationale Volkslied oleh Margreet Fogteloo & Bert Wikie (AW Bruna Uitgevers BV Utrecht), jelas diuraikan bahwa ”Negaraku” yang dulu di Indonesia dikenal sebagai ”Terang Bulan” adalah ciptaan orang Perancis bernama Pierre Jean de Béranger (1780- 1857).Siapa sebenarnya orang ini? Ensiklopedia pertama yang terbit setelah Indonesia merdeka, Ensiklopedia Indonesia, 1954, oleh TS Mulia dan KAH Hidding mencatat nama Pierre Jean de Béranger sebagai pencipta sejumlah lagu rakyat (Pr chanson populaire, Ing. folk song, Bld, volkslied). Di antara ciptaannya yang terkenal di Indonesia sejak zaman penjajahan Perancis di sini, Februari-Agustus 1811, sampai digegaskannya Bandung sebagai Parijs van Java, 1925, adalah Chansons morales et autres, Chansons nouvelles, Chansons inédites.Selama itu, pengaruh kebudayaan Perancis di Indonesia, jadi bukan di Malaysia, memang besar. Di Manado, yang sekarang disebut katrili, dan merupakan kesenian tradisional, berasal dari kata bahasa Perancis quadrille. Lalu, di Bandung, teater tradisional longser merupakan serapan kata bahasa Perancis, aba-aba seorang sutradara mengucapkan kata longer untuk bergerak lalu. Dan, jangan lupa kereta sado di Batavia berasal dari bahasa Perancis dos à dos, artinya duduk saling memunggung.Tetapi, di antara tokoh-tokoh seni Perancis yang pernah lama mukim di Indonesia, bukan Malaysia, adalah penyair terkemuka perkusor Simbolisme abad ke-19, Arthur Rimbaud. Pada 1876 penyair ini tinggal di Salatiga sebagai serdadu batalion I infanteri. Tentang dirinya di Salatiga bisa dibaca dalam Het Koninklijk Negerrlands-Indisch Leger 1830- 1950 oleh Zwitzer & Heshusius (Staatsuitvegerij ’s-Gravenhage).Salah seorang sahabat Rimbaud, René du Bois, bahkan menetap di lereng gunung Ungaran sampai tua, dan termasuk yang dikunjungi Mata Hari (Margareha Geertruide Zelle) sang ’polyglot harlot’ yang dieksekusi mati oleh otoritas Perancis pada Perang Dunia I sebagai mata-mata.Maunya, dengan sekelumit gambaran ini, jangan sampai gairah klaim-klaiman Indonesia terhadap Malaysia lantas melupakan peribahasa ”semut di seberang laut tampak gajah di depan mata tak tampak”. Sebab, kita juga punya kebiasaan nyolong.Sebagai pembuka ingatan, perhatikan dua lagu yang dianggap memiliki pathos kebangsaan, yaitu lirik ”Dari barat sampai ke timur berjajar pulau-pulau”, dan ”Kulihat Ibu Pertiwi sedang bersusah hati”. Yang pertama mengingatkan lagu Perancis ciptaan Rouget de Lisle. Memang hanya bagian depan, bagian yang sama dimanfaatkan Beatles juga.Tetapi yang kedua, ”Kulihat Ibu Pertiwi sedang bersusah hati”, adalah 100% pencurian atas lagu gereja ”What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. Tidak tahu apa ilusi grup musik perempuan asal Surabaya, Dara Puspita, pada 1960-an menyanyikannya menjadi ”Ibu Pertiwi sedang bersusah”. Lagu himne ini aslinya diciptakan oleh Horatius Bonar pada lirik dan Charles Crozat Converse pada musik, dan dicatat hak ciptanya pada 1876 lewat Biglow & Main.Harapannya, dalam klaim- klaiman yang sedang panas sekarang ini, jangan pula melahirkan pemeo baru ”Sesama pencuri jangan saling mendahului”. Sebab, ujungnya kalau urusan marah-marah ini dibeberkan dengan kasus-kasus plagiat yang ternyata tidak sepi di Indonesia, malunya harus ditanggung bersama.Sekadar contoh lain untuk mengingatkan itu, pada 1971 Markas Besar Angkatan Darat, ditandatangani oleh Brigjen Soerjadi, telah membuat malu memberi piagam kepada Ismail Marzuki sebagai komponis yang disebut mencipta lagu ”Auld Lang Syne”. Periksa Lagu-Lagu Pilihan Ismail Marzuki, oleh WS Suwito, Titik Terang, Jakarta. Tentu saja ini ngawur yang menyedihkan. Lagu ”Auld Lang Syne” itu nyanyian tradisional Skot yang digubah oleh Robert Burn dan dicatat penciptaannya melalui Preston & Son, London, 1799.Sebelum itu, Ismail Marzuki disebut juga sebagai pencipta lagu ”Als die orchideeën bleien” dan ”Panon Hideung”. Padahal, lagu yang pertama, yang kemudian berlirik bahasa Indonesia ”Bunga anggrek mulai timbul”, adalah ciptaan Belloni, pemimpin orkes Concordia Respavae Crescunt, yang dinyanyikan oleh Miss Lie pada 1922.Yang kedua, ”Panon Hideung” adalah lagu tradisional Rusia, diaransemen di Amerika oleh Harry Horlick & Gregory Stone dan masuk hak cipta pada 1926 di bawah Carl Fischer, Inc, lalu diperkenalkan di Indonesia, melalui Bandung pada tahun yang sama oleh pemusik Rusia bernama Varvolomeyev.Termasuk Presiden RI Soekarno, pada 1961 membuat kesalahan memberikan Piagam Widjajakusuma kepada Ismail Marzuki, yang menyebut dalam piagam itu bahwa lagu ”Hallo- hallo Bandung” adalah ciptaan Ismail Marzuki. Padahal, lagu itu aslinya ciptaan seorang prajurit Siliwangi bernama Lumban Tobing yang dinyanyikan bersama peleton Bataknya dari long march Yogya-Bandung di zaman revolusi. Tentang kematiannya bisa dilihat lukisannya di Museum Siliwangi, Jl Lembong, Bandung.Lagu ”Hallo-hallo Bandung” ciptaan Lumban Tobing ini hanya sama judul, tapi beda melodi dan lirik dengan lagu Belanda nyanyian Willy Derby pada 1929 ketika radio NIROM (Nederlands Indische Radio Omroep Maatschappij) beroperasi di Bandung versi baru rekaman ini dinyanyikan lagi oleh Wieteke van Dort di TV Belanda dalam De Stratemakeropzeeshow, 1972, dan dicetak teksnya pada 1992 dalam De Wduwe van Indië.Nah, ”Terang Bulan” juga tersua dalam De Wduwe van Indië dalam dua teks, yaitu bahasa Indonesia gaya KNIL dan bahasa Belanda. Kita baca teks yang pertama saja:Terang boelanterang boelan di kaliBoewaja timboelkatanja lah matiDjangan pertjajaorang lelakiBrani soempadia takoet mati.Asal saja teks lama di atas tidak jadi ejekan kepada kita, Indon, sebagai ”brani soempa, dia takoet mati”. Kalau ada tuduhan begitu, rasanya elok diingat teriakan Bung Karno dulu, ”Ganyang Malaysia!”Remy Sylado Pengamat Musik, Novelis, Dramawan
I think most and the vast majority of Indonesians are naive due to low education. And this pathetic populace are easily influenced and brainwashed by the very few intellectuals (particularly media). Being a Malaysian I feel sad over the on going spat.
“Yep. It’’s one of the major problems we have.”
hi..very impressed with your writing…as a malaysian who live outside malaysia, i am not aware of the real situation of this so called ”’’stealing and calling names”” things…i just happened to realize it is a big thing when i met some indonesian here…i was being polite by smilling at them seeing that malaysian and indonesian here always have really good relationship.. but i was shocked because they just ignored me and my friends…and it was the first day of eid as well…isnt it better to just forgive and foget especially on eid???pray that things will get better…malaysia and indonesia are siblings from the same ancestors so we have so many things in common…language,culture,tradition etc…so…we should make up already,hugging each other…hehehe…as the saying goes ””air dicincang tak akan putus””….peace
“Peace as well!”
i think the whole country are laughing at us…By the way im form Malaysia and my lovely wife from Indonesia and my daughter is Malay….
“Nice to meet you..”
i think it”’’s happened in both countries when opinion in malaysia also look indonesian immigrant as a thief or violence people which make their opinion on indonesian people is little disrespectful..
“Yeah, we must change that stereotyping, but I don”t know how..”
Because Malingsia have been stealing Indonesian culture for years. Sometime it is good to vent out frustration rather than bottling it up.
“Yeah, venting out frustration is one thing, but getting all aggressive and going as far as stopping Malaysian citizens on the streets for a ‘razia’ is just stupid..”
here goes again with that culture-stealing stuff. have you not been taught about history, that we are originally just the same? It’’s a shame when we pulled our faces off of something totally absurd. This is when understanding and tolerance are needed.Rambut sama hitam, hati sama kejam. Well people are basically insecure creature.
“Read my article again, this time slowly.”
@Aedams : no…silly ! we”re not the same ! read this :http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/search?q=exporting+creativity+
“Actually Indonesians and Malaysians (and Bruneians, Thai, Filipino) are of the same, or similar, race, language and cultural background”
@guri, so I”ve read the post, what’’s the different! I”d make it clear once more, “originally the same”, that means what is happening since that is not exactly “the same” anymore. come on, time changes, so do you, me, even everyone!
because most of us are never exposed to education with critical thinking. we mostly agree with what metro tv or tv one say.
“I think so too, but why does it seem that nobody is alarmed by this fact? It is trully mind boggling..”
Reading your article makes me really sad, especially because of the sentences you wrote in green. There is a very strong bias when you select the facts which suiit with your arguments. Instead, you need to see those facts in a more logical way of thinking, such as how could be possible that the malaysian govt not aware of its tourism ad may invite controversy in Indonesia? so odd and weird, or how could malaysian think that the term for batik is such a unversal terminology? These just makes your article very ridiculous.
In my opinion, you lack of critical observation and examinations of the what has been going wrong with the relationships with our closest neighbour.
I strongy recommend that you write a new article which helps overcoming the spread of stereotype, so, please leave words such as provoke, steal, etc, etc
“The sentences in green are links to supporting articles, so click on them and you can read those articles from various sources. I dont think I am biased, if you say I am, you are as biased as I am because even after all the facts I have presented you still choose to believe that these Indonesians that are making the rest of us look stupid, are correct in doing whatever it is they’re doing.
I have also written that it wasn’t a Malaysian tourism ad, it was simply a segment made by Discovery Asia channel who wrongly put footages of Balinese dancers in their Malaysian segment. The Malaysian government didn’t have anything to do nor did they even know about it in the first place. Which is why I said in my article that Indonesians are so easily provoked that it’s sad to see Indonesians appear like fools everytime there is a provocation such as this.
We as a people should be able to calm down, rationale and check all the facts straight before doing anything. That is the sensible and logical thing to do. But nowadays, we go running amok, and then get facts after being so emotional, and then even when we are in the wrong, we don’t apologize. That’s so rude and impolite! which is ironic because once upon a time we were known to be a very polite nation. Now we’re like crazy Arabs that justify even the stupidest or most evil action with whatever they can.
In MY opinion, I don’t lack of observation, I write things as I see it. And it is after all MY opinion, nobody is forced to agree with me. So if you don’t agree, it’s your prerogative, and YOU can write a story to counter act mine if you wish, but I think my story is perfect the way it is, because what I wrote is the fact, and Indonesians and Malaysians are in fact brothers and sisters, so there is no need to fight especially when it’s about things that we can never be sure of who came up with first.
Plus, we at the moment very well known for corruption and stealing stuff, which is stupid because we have so many of original stuff that are way better than the things we are stealing/copying and even more stupid to accuse others of what we are doing ourselves.”
I like your article and I agree with your main idea. But I disagree when you said that both Malaysian and Indonesian shared common culture since we are both Malay people. Indeed, some part of our country has Malayan culture (i.e. people in north Sumatera and some part of Kalimantan). But not Javanese! or even Balinese! and the fact is that they claimed our cultural heritage which come dominantly from Javanese/Balinese culture (e.g. Batik, Keris, Tari Pendet, Sate and even Wayang Kulit).Probably, Indonesian people wouldn’t react this much, if they just claimed … for instance Sumatran cuisine like Gulai, or traditional clothing for Malayans.The fact that Indonesia has more important problems to solve, like corruption doesn’t mean that we should ignore this matter. You are living in Europe, like also me currently. You should have seen how people in Europe are proud of their culture and try to preserve. For me, being too much over-reactive isn’t wise, but ignorance doesn’t help our country at all.Greets,Topan
artikel bagus tapi sayang tidak efektif. sasarannya siapa, mas? orang indonesia sewot yang narrow-minded itu gak ngerti bahasa inggris.
“Pertama saya bukan mas, saya mbak. Dan tidak ada sasaran apa apa, saya hanya menulis saja, kadang lebih ngena dalam bhs indonesia kadang kalo lagi pengen nulis bahasa inggris ya pakai bahasa inggris.”
wow, interesting.
never really realise malaysia and indonesia are enemies dues to insufficient reasons. well i’m not from indonesia nor am i from malaysia, just another neighbour in between. who was tracing route of her anccestors. Back to your blog. i just hope that there is more of your countrymen who would read and open up thier mindset this could be super useful. like example recently an indonesian worker was offended by some foreingners (i’m not pointing fingers to whose fault it is). An indian worker superior scolded a lower ranked indon-man worker idiot cause he make a mistake. and therefore a massive fight goes on, an innocent lives was invovle two singaporean wasn’t even meant to be in this argument landed in the hospital. a small riot taken place. and i find this truly ridiculous. from just the word “idiot”. i mean it’s all loss. the supperior resign his job, the workers whose involves is retrence. it’s understanable to why this indo-man is angry about but, if he able to think well enough and able to use his “pay-back(revenge)” in a more civilise manner. so as the innocent won’t be involve. eg. talk or disccuse this to the higher up or improve himself in his work wise. ect.. there’s many ways to solved this. arn’t i’m right?.
Saya orang Indonesia, dan saya setuju dngan pemilik blog ini. Banyak kali kt forum2, Malaysian mengejek Indonesian & sebaliknya. Apakah masalah dibalik semua ini? Satu orang, satu grup mengejek, apakah itu artinya satu negara mengejek? Pada dasarnya, kita semua dibuat saling mengejek dan menghina, apakah gunanya? Hanya menguntungkan pihak ketiga saja. Masalah TKI di Malaysia, ada berapa case? Dari case itu, ada berapa orang Indonesia di Malaysia? 2 juta++. 10 case saja berarti sangat kecil jumlahnya dari 2 juta++ tersebut. Masalah orang Indonesia kurang terdidik-> apakah karena banyak orang Indonesia kt Malaysia mejadi maid, berarti seluruh orang Indonesia bodoh? Banyak orang Indonesia yang bekerja di Malaysia sebagai profesional, expat, dan apakah itu berarti mereka bodoh? Kalau memang mereka bodoh, berarti orang yang mempekerjakan mereka lebih bodoh, betul x? Oleh dari itu, janganlah kita menjadi panas hati karena issue2 tersebut. Cobalah berkawan satu sama lain, bahasa pun kurang lebih sama. Kalau boleh berkawan dengan bangsa lain, kenapa tidak boleh berkawan dengan bangsa SERUMPUN? Ibarat bagaimana bisa sukses, maju dan berkawan dengan orang lain, kalau dengan saudara sendiri tidak rukun?
“EXACTLY MY POINT (referring to your last paragraph). Sedihnya hanya sedikit org yang berpikir begitu, banyaknya emosi tidak jelas, sok nasionalis padahal begitu ada first opportunity utk tinggal di negara lain dengan kondisi lebih baik dan dapat ganti kewarganegaraan juga semua berbondong bondong kabur.. huh!”
greetingswell said. in many ways,. people are uninformed.i wish more indonesian will have the same thought as yours.all the best. i’ll be watching more.cheersazizi, kuala lumpur.
kalo indonesia bener2 dijajah lagi, kali siap gak? mulut-mulut canggih kalian seperti di forum2 itu bisa gak mengusir penjajah?
All of indonesia-malaysia confrontation?? I am indonesian army personnel.. And i think ..we better kill em(malay) all… Thats what i think… If our highest command say..”Hit it” …and it will not take a month to destroy em…. Why? Coz we have a lot of battle experience….
You follow orders with no other thoughts in your head, Iman? Does that also mean that killing your fellow Indonesians is okay?
W’aduh.
If so, I advise you to read this article by Desi Anwar.
To the writer: thank you for sharing your points of view on this concerning issue. The way i see it, we, Indonesians, are just beginning to learn democracy which allows everybody to speak freely. That means we are not accustomed to the new concept of uncensored speaking (including the media and even the politicians). It takes time for us (commoners) to become wiser on making public statements and their implications. And, it would be very nice if we could accelerate our democracy maturity process by now. But I believe we will come to that point eventually.And as for the current dispute between Indonesian and Malaysian governments, there was a trigger on this. We Indonesians feel our sovereignty and territory, basing on our facts and standards. were violated. However, I am certain that Malaysians also have their own justifications, of course basing on their facts and standards, towards the capturing of three Indonesians officers in (to our facts and standards) Indonesian territory which was the triggering incident. And the Kuala Lumpur decision not to initiate communication for explaining their action made it much worse. So, I really feel that the two nations should improve our bilateral communication. If we are neighbors, then we should start act like ones. Talk if we have disagreement. Find solutions that will serve both parties well. I hope we both can learn how to be good neighbors in the future.- Cheers from Bandung
if you do corrupt things means you gradually make your country becoming poorer and create more stupidity among your people, as a result you will lose your ownership of your nation.and your motherlandif you think now you are rich and strong enough to do annexation to neighbor country ( poorer country ), history told us ,you would be ended bloodily like Hitler.If you both believe that War is only better solution for Indo & Malay on this issue , just let it be & be prepared for our own graveyard since nobody will win eventually.except hypocrite & opportunist politician. If I may touch your hearth deeply , May I ask you what do you always say in front of God All Mighty before you ending Your Sholat..?