IWASKK

Heated conversations in regards to Malaysia vs Indonesia, have been, in fact, bugging me endlessly. I have never felt more disappointed with my very own homeland, Indonesia. It has been utterly ridiculous; we are doomed to be a nation of stupidity and false prejudice. I sure hope I can still manage to make sense of it all, since, I must say emotional breakdowns have no power against what I truly am feeling right now.

I’ve been living in Malaysia for almost four years; studying, making friends, living my life to the fullest, while staying true to my native Indonesian self -sharing, promoting cultures, peace-keeping. I have made wonderful Malaysian friends and acquaintances. Lovely, indeed. For the past four weeks, I have been spending my extended holiday (unemployement brings bulletproof boredom, I tell you) in my hometown; Jakarta, Indonesia, and all I see in the news is hatred towards Malaysia; not just any particular Malaysians, but the whole nation intact. What gives? Pendet, one of Indonesia’s treasured traditional dance so the Indonesian media said “has been claimed by the Malaysians”. The first time I watched the news, I laughed. I laughed real hard; LMFAO, really. The news have become more and more similar to “Infotainment”, glorifying dramas; what Indonesians have been craving for since the past years or so. The “Claimed Pendet Dance” was an image included in a promotional documentation about Malaysia for a spot on the Discovery Channel, not a tourism campaign, my dearests. The one who did the motion must have used stock-image, after a night out of heavy drinking (pardon my ridicule, but it was fatal). Is he/she fired yet for causing this big of a havoc? Hmm. (Oh, I so want to laugh again and again and again).

That same afternoon, MetroTV aired a discussion on this matter, with an intro of a young Pendet Dancer performing her ability, live. I hated it. Why? Because although she said to have been dancing for 12 years, she did not do the dance any justice. Maybe it was not her, maybe it was the cameraman who did not do a great shot on the originally graceful dance. I still could not get over the fact that her makeup was beyond awful. Why am I prissy about these details? Because, we, Indonesians, who are enraged at Malaysians at that time for stealing our precious culture, could not manage to present the most beautiful parts of our own. I could not care less about what they call “Malaysians stealing our cultures”, we haven’t yet do much justice on what we have claimed to be ours.

Terang Bulan; ah… the Indonesian composition that became the National Anthem of Malaysia. The sad part of it? I know more about the Malaysian version more than the Indonesian one. I am very sorry, but throughout my school days, twelve years in Indonesia, I have never had anyone teach me that song. The Malaysians have sung their national anthems for decades; why bother to bring this up now? Where were we at the time they first used the melodies? I’m sure things were much more peaceful back then. Drama, glorified, part 2.

What got me going on writing this note, finally, was this; the image of middle/high school students around Indonesia screaming hatred towards Malaysia; mouthing bad words, writing awful sayings on the panels and posters they are sporting, while others burned drawing of Malaysian flag and stomped on them to shreds. WHAT HAVE THEY LEARNED IN SCHOOL? WHAT ARE WE, INDONESIANS, TEACHING IN OUR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES? WHAT, EXACTLY, WHAT? Drama, glorified, part 3.

Although some people (maybe most) argue that the government and politics have much to do about this matter, I would like to keep that aside my dearests. Individuals give much more power via the internet nowadays; FB status, note (the medium which I am using right now), blogs, Twitter, and so on. Most of my colleagues and fellow Indonesians are pissed at Malaysia; very f*ckin pissed. Yet, they rather go watch “sinetron” (Indonesian teledrama/soap opera) Isabela or any others that are Malaysian-rooted and listen to trending pop/rock music bands which ironically sound truly similar with old “rock-kangkang-Melayu” bands, than to go to art/cultural centers and see traditional dances and plays.

How many of you Indonesians fall asleep or giggle with friends while listening to our own National Anthem “Indonesia Raya”? Do you still memorize Pancasila? Do you pay proper taxes, because I’m sure you get most of your gadgets from black market (insert laughing emoticon here)? These questions can go on and on until we Indonesians realize that we have not put our whole hearts into our motherland Indonesia just enough to make her proud. Our foundingfathers (rest in peace) would be rolling on their graves knowing this matter.

I was blessed with a chance, not too long ago, to visit Rinca and Komodo Island (breathtaking beauties, I tell you); which has been endlessly promoted as the next big thing; new 7 wonders of nature. Even so, with all the campaigns Indonesians involved have been working on, I must ask this; Would you rather save money and plan your next trip to Europe or gladly visit beautiful places in your own country and actually contribute to our dear tourism that frankly isn’t rocketing anywhere? I saw NO local tourists there. None. Sniff. Sob.

Finally, my last passage, I can only hope for the best and awakening within Indonesians. Instead of putting so much energy on hating the so-called-enemy, why not use it to make ourselves better Indonesians and surely make Indonesia a better place to live in? People, around the world, regardless of countries of origin, races and cultural backgrounds can see through us. Would they come and visit us if we keep our pace of being such violent dramatic beings? Indonesia’s tourism is doomed even when no-one is stealing from it.

As a colleague of mine stated it “Malaysians did not steal anything… they merely take what we don’t care about.”