Indonesia-Malaysia serumpun tetapi dua nusa

In light of the sudden outburst of anti-Malaysian sentiment in Indonesia, we ought to be curious about how Indonesians, particularly their young, view us. What are their perceptions on bilateral relations as Indonesia is poised for a substantial boost both politically and economically, while Malaysia slips behind?

I had the opportunity of hearing first-hand what young educated Indonesians thought of us last week when I delivered a talk at the Universiti Indonesia (better known as UI). Located in a spacious and leafy campus in Depok, to the south of Jakarta, the Universiti Indonesia is one of the nation's most elite public universities.

It enjoys extraordinary prestige in the country along with its arch-rivals, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and Bandung's Institute of Technology. The competition for entrance is fierce and its Department of International Relations (where I was invited to speak) prides itself on being amongst the most selective. Faculties. It receives some 4,000 applicants for only 40 places--an admission rate of only 1%.

Because it's so hard to get into, the university has a great reputation amongst Indonesia's top employers--such as the Foreign Ministry, leading media groups like Kompas and the largest local corporate firms. In short, it's an incubator of the Indonesian elite and a good place to test our ideas on what was definitely a very alert, highly educated and no-nonsense crowd.

My presentation wasn't about Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral relations. Frankly, I'm much more interested in whether or not the republic will achieve the promise of the recent election results not to mention the solid economic growth that has been maintained throughout the recent global financial crisis.

Despite my initial reservations as to how I would be received (anti-Malaysian demos had started spreading to various campuses across the republic) I was received very warmly by the both the staff and the students in the audience, most of whom were young women. They appeared subdued enough to begin with but when the Q+A session started they peppered my optimistic analysis of their country's fortunes.

Natalia Rialucky, a very confident young Batak lady (and ambitious too: her email address is niaforpresident@...) couldn't share my upbeat take on Indonesia's future: "Many of us see Indonesia as somehow helpless and inefficient," she said, "We are hindered by our bureaucracy. There's hardly any room for optimism."

As with Natalia, Marhadika Sadjad, a Makassar-born, final year student was similarly cynical. Both young ladies pointed to Indonesia's obvious failings--the poverty and corruption in particular--as they rejected my thesis.

But later as we were discussing bilateral relations Mardhika in particular warmed up, saying, "Many of the Malaysians I know are terrific people. However many Indonesians feel that Malaysians are arrogant and insensitive."

Still she was troubled by what appeared to be a worsening in bilateral relations: "Things didn't use to be this bad, but stories about Malaysia claiming Indonesian culture, beating up our citizens, and taking away land have been occurring far too regularly and that has strengthened the negative stereotyping of Malaysians."

"I think it's not bad enough that a Malaysian would be beaten on the streets (although I think there were cases a few years back in Makassar where a Malaysian student was beaten) but it's pretty bad that an Indonesian wouldn't be able to defend Malaysia without being called a traitor!"

Mutti, another final year student explained further: "The Indonesian government has made some clear statements, but I don't think the Indonesian people are that satisfied."

I confess that as I returned from UI my main impression was how civil and yet upfront the students had been with me. They had been enormously polite and thoughtful at all times even when they'd disagreed with me. They have the ability to think and debate- something that is woefully lacking in Malaysia's tertiary institutions- whether private or public.

The freedom and openness of Indonesian public life has widened the horizons of their students, allowing them to explore intellectually. More importantly, it allows them to develop their personality and to have a greater confidence in dealing with issues. They set a lot of store on frank and direct discussion. You argued your point. You pleaded your case. If these have merit, they'd accept your views.

The old narrative of Indonesia-Malaysia relations is what we are all the same- that we are serumpun. But talking with the students has made it increasingly clear that this doesn't make sense anymore. It is true that we are still united by history, culture and faith but that these underlying factors are less and less powerful in the face of recent socio-political changes.

We are becoming two different nations and we should acknowledge those differences openly. Perhaps the way forward for bilateral relations between our two countries is to not try and sweep every problem under the rug of imagined commonalities, but rather a frank and open discussion on the things that really matter. (Ceritalah by KARIM RASLAN/MySinchew)