Class clash mars Malaysia-Indonesia
ties By Kalinga Seneviratne
SINGAPORE - They share the same Malay
cultural roots and Islamic faith, but the poor
treatment of Indonesian workers in Malaysia has
soured relations between the Southeast Asian
neighbors. Political commentators view the growing
clash as one arising from class rather than
ethnicity or even nationalism.
In the
latest flare-up, thousands of young Indonesians
burned Malaysian flags and demonstrated in front
of the Malaysian
Embassy in Jakarta and
consulates elsewhere after the physical assault of
an Indonesian karate coach by Malaysian police.
The fact that the police were hunting for illegal
Indonesian immigrants at the time has also
inflamed tensions in Indonesia.
Donald
Luther Kolobita, 47, was part of the Indonesian
team competing in the Asian Karate Championships
in Kuala Lumpur on August 24 when he was
confronted by four plainclothes police officers
late at night outside his hotel. Thinking they
were trying to rob him, Kolobita put up a fight
before he was overpowered, handcuffed and taken to
the police station, where he was savagely
assaulted.
Kolobita returned to Jakarta in
a wheelchair and the Indonesian team withdrew from
the championship. The Speaker of Indonesia's
parliament, Agung Laksono, called the attack "an
arrogant act on the part of the Malaysian police
against an Indonesian citizen", and President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono demanded that the
Malaysian police apologize.
On Friday,
Malaysian Police Chief Musa Hassan sent a written
apology to Kolobita, which was hand-delivered to
his hospital bedside in Jakarta by Malaysian
Ambassador Zainal Abidin Zain. But anger in
Indonesia has not yet subsided, with young
activists continuing their protests outside the
Malaysian Embassy.
The episode represents
the latest in a series of complaints about the
ill-treatment of Indonesians in Malaysia,
especially among migrant workers. There are almost
600,000 officially documented Indonesian workers
in Malaysia and, according to unofficial
estimates, there may be an equal number of illegal
workers in the country.
An estimated 27%
of the Indonesian legal workers serve as domestic
maids. A spate of documented abuse cases against
domestic servants has intensified Indonesia’s
anger over a heavy-handed crackdown on illegal
workers.
"Malays in Malaysia always think
of Javanese [Indonesians] as ethnically inferior
compared with them," said Ade Armando, a
communications lecturer at the University of
Indonesia. "This is justified by the fact that the
Indonesians they mostly see are laborers or
maids."
Yap Swee Seng, executive director
of the Malaysian human-rights group Suaram, argues
that the anger expressed by Indonesians is
indicative of the "long-accumulated anger against
Malaysia for its rampant abuse, exploitation and
human-rights violations of Indonesian migrant
workers". He contends that the Malaysian
government is not committed to stopping abuse.
"There have been too many abuse cases with
almost total impunity enjoyed by the
perpetuators," Yap said. "The majority of the
Indonesian migrant workers have been employed in
the '3-D' jobs - dangerous, discriminatory and
degrading. Therefore, there are widespread
discriminatory and arrogant attitudes against the
migrant workers in general."
Just a few
days before the attack on Kolobita, the Indonesian
government, prompted by the death of a 24-year-old
maid at the hands of abusive employers, stepped up
pressure on Malaysia to take swift action against
the broad ill-treatment of Indonesian workers. In
the past three months, there were two cases of
Indonesian maids being rescued by firefighters
after they were spotted hanging from window ledges
of highrise condominiums trying to escape their
abusive employers. Maids often suffer and report
physical attacks, but prosecutions are rare.
Irene Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a
leading migrant workers' rights group, said this
year that on average 150-200 migrant workers, the
majority of them maids, seek refuge at the
Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur every month.
She blamed both the Malaysian and Indonesian
governments for failing to protect the rights of
migrant workers.
"As long as the Malaysian
government does not address this fundamental
issue, such incidents will continue to happen,"
she told Al-Jazeera television in a recent
interview.
Yap agrees. "Domestic workers
are among the most abused people in Malaysia, as
they work in isolated and insulated environments,"
he said. "They should be allowed one rest day in a
week and be allowed to meet with their friends,
and join or form trade unions, so that they will
have a support system."
Yap argued that
there should be "a total reform in the policy and
legal system in Malaysia in dealing with migrant
workers" and that without such reforms the
Malaysian government "will be equally guilty by
its inaction against such human-rights
violations".
Armando said: "I do not think
we as a nation are so angry with Malaysia." He
argued that rather than protesting against
Malaysia, young people in Jakarta should protest
to the Indonesian government for "failing to
provide our people with the type of job
opportunities that are offered in Malaysia".
He said the two countries' middle classes
have considerable mutual respect and noted that
Indonesian cultural products can be found
everywhere in Malaysia.
"I believe, to
some extent, the Malaysian younger middle classes
envy the type of freedom enjoyed by their
counterparts in Indonesia," he said.
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