Embracing similarities, despising dissimilarities Fachry Ali and Imam Achmad  ;  Fachry Ali is cofounder of the Institute for the Study and Advancement of Business Ethics (Lspeu Indonesia) and Imam Ahmad is the executive director of the Lspeu Indonesia

JAKARTA POST,  11 Januari 2014

                                                                                                                        

Under thorough and productive management, the “Malay World” (Dunia Melayu, or DM) could potentially transform into a significant political, cultural and economic power in Southeast Asia.  The DM is destined to occupy a vast geographical landscape, extending from the archipelagic Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, southern part of Thailand to the southern part of the Philippines.  Cultural similarities between the populations of this vast geographical area are only natural. The people of DM share common cultural symbols as well as language. Taking into account all of these factors, the DM has the potential force to become a collective movement at the Southeast Asian level through which common goals can be achieved.  However, efforts to pave a path toward a collective movement have long been veered by a specific historical force: The coming of western forces — Portuguese, British, Dutch as well as Spaniards and, later on, the US. When colonial powers abandoned the Southeast Asian realm during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the core of DM found itself broken into respective nation-states.  As a consequence, they tended to see the reality from different lens’ that at a point brought about confrontation as vividly demonstrated in the 1963-1966 disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia. This bitter experience, however, has long been put into the remote past. But, the sense of unity among the core components of DM (Indonesia and Malaysia) was created artificially.  This relates to the inexorable adjustment of each country to a new dynamic of the world economy. Despite Indonesia and Malaysia being emerging markets, Indonesia is overwhelmed by high population growth that has reached over 240 million today, reducing its ability to provide adequate jobs for all its citizens.  As a consequence, the oversupply of its labor force pours out to the less-populated, but better-in-economic-performance countries, of which Malaysia is one of them.  Various disputes that came about as a result of relations between Indonesian workers and their Malaysian employers became sensitive subject matter, for each event was largely broadcasted in both countries’ mass media. As a result, the effort of cultivating a sense of unity and “cultural brotherhood” under the banner of the DM was not effective. There was a lost opportunity to create a massive and strategic collective DM movement in the fields of socio-culture, economy, politics as well as intellectual. It is due to this great loss that we find reason to revive the cultivation of the DM spirit among its core components. But can a sense of brotherhood be actualized as exemplified in the Malay poem Kalau dekat berkirim salam/Kalau jauh berkirim surat (Send regards when you are close; send letters when you are far)?  The basic strategy involves “embracing the similarities and despising the dissimilarities”.  In materializing this goal, each action program must touch cultural and social realms to create a sociocultural-based union between the two countries. The programs must be mutually beneficial and conducted simultaneously to create a sociocultural union by way of establishing cooperation between the two countries’ private and public big businesses. This would lead to vertical integration in the realm of business and could potentially expand the market magnitude of their products.  As a consequence, the more prosperous the two communities are, the larger opportunity they possess to finance sociocultural consolidation projects.  To achieve the latter, we must consider the important role of intellectual discourse pertinent to strategic issues — such as common sociocultural backgrounds, historical concordance in the realm of politics and economy, shared language as well as other cultural symbols. In short, these all function as the means of creating a massive and strategic collective DM movement in all spheres of life.  To end this note, let us quote another Malay poem, Kalau roboh kota Malaka/Papan di Jawa didirikan/Kalau sungguh bagai dikata/Nyawa dan badan diserahkan (If Malaka falls, the plaque of Java is erected/If a vow has been declared/Life and wealth will surely be sacrificed). This couplet expresses the determination to fight until death, provided a true and a sincere agreement has been forged. But on top of this, the verse mentions two historical sites: Malacca and Java in a reciprocal tune — eliciting the remembrance of the ancient relations between Indonesia and Malaysia.  The pantun (verse) reminds us to the fall of Malacca into to the hands of the Portuguese in 1511. Ships were often dispatched from Jepara, Central Java, to siege Malacca, in a military campaign against the Portuguese.  To some extent, the verse reflects the spirit of the DM. In January 1990, then Malaysia’s sports and youth minister Najib Razak expressed this sense of DM unity.  On the occasion of the Indonesian and Malaysian Youth gathering in Puncak, West Java, Razak declared that “Malaysia is a forward defense for Indonesia and the latter is the real defense of Malaysia.” Now, as a prime minister of Malaysia, Razak has the power to realize the DM’s unity.  ●