Ganyang Malaysia, Selamatkan Siti!

The on-going spat between Malaysian and Indonesian governments (emphasis on governments) over the Ambalat maritime territory in the South Sulawesi Sea seems to raise the specter of a second Konfrontasi. I'm a bit surprise at the dearth of discourse on this issue on the Malaysian side as evidenced by a simple Google search on the word Ambalat. It's as if this controversy--by extension, the question of common historical and cultural identity of the Malay archipelago--has never registered on the radar of the Malaysian public in general. Also, the way this controversy has been presented in the mainstream media seems to suggest that oil is indeed thicker than blood.

Lest we forget, the present demarcation line between the Southeast Asian states is a colonial construct. What's Malaysia or Indonesia if not the Frankenstein's monster of the past Western tinkerings and insidious dealings. Now, these Westphalian-styled nation-state borders are to be accepted fait accompli and their sovereignty is deemed supreme as if they have been in existence since time immemorial.

Nothing could further from the truth. The 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty (Treaty of London) was what torn the archipelago asunder; since then, there had been numerous efforts from people in both countries to reunite the Nusantara Melayu especially during the height of WWII when the attention of the Western powers, namely the UK and the Netherlands, were distracted by the war. Note the italicized "had" because not since the near-total vanquishment of the Left in Malaysia (or the erstwhile Malaya) during the post-WWII Emergency period and the subsequent anti-Communist hysteria, there hasn't been any substantive movement to facilitate the reunification of the two countries (discounting, of course, the forceful attempt by Bung Karno during the Konfrontasi in 1962-1965.)

Malaysians and Indonesians have to remember that their artificial national identifiers are only as significant as we care to make them, and that we share so much in common--history, culture, language, just to name a few. I always feel at home whenever I'm in Indonesia and never once I feel like I don't belong. Granted that my familial ties to Indonesia is much closer than most Malaysians--my grandma is Indonesian--but the lack of concrete ties should not be used as an excuse to neglect the common bonds that bind us all. Just remember that "kita semua serumpun." Before I'm being accused of promoting some kind of regional Malay chauvinism--UMNO's modus operandi writ large, if you may--I'd like to state that the essence of my argument is to promote efforts on cultivating the similarities, as opposed to magnifying the differences, among the people in the Southeast Asian region.

Also, check out this Farish Noor's article in Jakarta Post about Siti Nurhaliza as the transcendental icon in bridging the ASEAN countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia. I, too, am surprised at Siti's immense popularity in Indonesia, and like Dr. Farish, a lot of Indonesians did ask me about Siti and they were a bit disappointed when I told them I don't really like Siti and that I think she's way too over-hyped, over-exposed, and over-rated (another post, another time). I'm sure there are plenty of Siti detractors out there that would heartily agree with me.