Indonesia tests ties with 'arrogant' neighbor

The friendship between the two Southeast Asian Muslim neighbors has been strained in recent weeks over a disputed island off Indonesia's Kalimantan province.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia are claiming ownership of the Ambalat island off northern Kalimantan and its seabed, which is believed to possess large quantities of petroleum and gas deposits. The dispute over the island flared up on February 16 when Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas granted an oil exploration concession to the giant British-Dutch multinational Shell petroleum company.

Since then, both countries have disputed each other's claim to the area and sent gunboats to protect their interests. Indonesia's Department of Transportation has also sent workers to build a lighthouse on Unarang Reef just off the island. Jakarta claims the Malaysian navy arrested and assaulted these workers before releasing them.

While the Malaysian media has been mute on the issue, here in Indonesia the media has drummed up nationalist sentiments over the issue, which has been taken up by political and youth groups raising the specter of the Sukarno era "Smash Malaysia" campaign of 1963.

While young people across the country have been enlisted as konfrontasi volunteers, some demonstrators have burned the Malaysian flag. Yet, leaders of both countries have appealed for refrain and vowed to settle the dispute by peaceful means.

During a visit to Jakarta last week to meet his Indonesian counterpart to discuss the contentious issue, Malaysia's amicable foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, gave a series of media interviews to calm the waters and appealed to the Indonesian media to tone down its anti-Malaysian rhetoric.

When asked by the popular Tempo magazine whether Malaysia was ready for war, Albar asked "what war?" He went on to assure Indonesia that war has never been an option considered by Malaysia.

"Those who talk about war are the Indonesian media," he said. "Indonesian television talks about attacking Malaysia. I think they should tone it down."

Confrontation between two countries that share a common religion, language and cultural traditions may sound somewhat out of place in the modern world. But, many analysts here argue that the latest confrontation is much more than just a dispute over territory.

They point out that this comes hard on the heels of Malaysia's high-handed arrest and deportation of thousands of illegal Indonesian workers; while on the other hand, the Indonesian media has whipped up the Ambalat issue immediately after a controversial fuel-price hike by the government of newly elected President Susilo Bamabang Yudhoyono.

"The Ambalat case has at least demonstrated how the spirit of nationalism has 'pushed back' waves of protests against the increase in fuel prices," observed political science lecturer Israr Iskandar of Andalas University in Padang.

Writing in the Jakarta Post this week, he warned that while the Ambalat case has indicated that nationalism is still strong in Indonesia, it runs the danger of burying beneath it the real people's issues, especially cost of living.

But media analyst Wahyutama of the Jakarta-based media watchdog Habibie Center argues that the treatment of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia may well be the trigger for the current nationalist sentiments here.

On March 1, Malaysia began rounding up and arresting undocumented workers - most of whom are Indonesians - following the end of a four-month amnesty. Those arrested could face heavy fines, jail sentences and whipping.

"We cannot just simplify Indonesia's reaction to Malaysia as a result of media exposure to the Ambalat issue. The reaction is the accumulated emotions of the Indonesian people toward Malaysia-Indonesia relations, especially regarding Indonesian workers," Wahyutama told Inter Press Service in an interview. "I believe the emotions are addressed to the Malaysian government and not to the people.

"There is a general feeling among Indonesian people of being humiliated and dishonored by Malaysia," Wahyutama noted. "The Ambalat conflict happened in a sequence with the sweep of Indonesian illegal workers from Malaysia," he added.

"This policy is viewed by Indonesian people with disgust. It shows Malaysia has no respect for the Indonesian people - especially the cruel punishment like whipping meted out by the Malaysian government to Indonesians."

Malaysia's decision to award a concession for oil exploitation and management in the Ambalat area to Shell indicated that Kuala Lumpur is sure the island is part of its territory. Indonesia, however, is also confident that the area is in its maritime territory. Jakarta says its claim to the area is supported by historical facts that Ambalat previously was part of the Bulungan Sultanate that since Indonesia's independence in 1945 has been incorporated into the Indonesian archipelago.

The latest clash between the two neighbors is related to the dispute over the Sipadan and Ligitan islands in the same Sulawesi Sea - a dispute that was settled in Malaysia's favor by the International Court of Justice in 2002. Malaysia's claim over Ambalat and the Unarang Reef is based on the 2002 judgement.

But because there is an overlapping territory, Indonesia has used the rules of the Convention of Law of the Sea to lay claim to portions of the island, situated off the land border between East Kalimantan and Malaysia's state of Sabah.

Analysts believe that Indonesia will not go into international arbitration on this issue because the 2002 case was very costly, especially the pay for foreign lawyers. Malaysia too is not in a mood for a legal battle, something Foreign Minister Albar indicated during his visit here last week.

The two countries are due to meet again next week to hammer out a possible joint oil exploration deal in a bid to diffuse tension