Malaysian students in Jakarta feel the heat

File picture of a demonstration calling for the banning of the Ahmadiyya sect in Jakarta in June 18, 2008. Malaysians in Jakarta have been harassed of late. — Reuters pic

JAKARTA— Some Malaysians studying in Indonesia are facing tough times because their teachers' attitudes have changed amid rising tensions between the two countries in recent weeks.

They told The Jakarta Globe newspaper that the ongoing claims in Indonesia that Malaysia has been trying to steal its cultural heritage have strained their lives.

They are worried about checks against Malaysians carried out on the streets by an Indonesian vigilante group recently.

The Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta has told the students to stay indoors to avoid being harassed, the daily reported yesterday.

A Malaysian medical student, Siti Nurhidayat Pazil, who has been studying for four years at University of Indonesia (UI), said: “When (lecturers) ask me to do something, they will say 'Hey Malay, can you finish this please?' They don't call me by my name.”

The two countries have been less than neighbourly lately, with both nations' armed forces flexing their muscles over a maritime border dispute in an area called Ambalat, off Borneo.

Long-festering issues, such as reports of Indonesian migrant workers being mistreated and claims of Malaysia robbing Indonesia of its heritage, are also hurting ties.

Hazwani Raffar, another UI medical student, said she is hurt when friends, neighbours and teachers ask her why Malaysia must steal Indonesian culture. “Don't they have questions to ask beside this?” she asks. “This is so harsh, even though some of my friends see it as a joke. Deep in my heart, I can't accept it.”

Hazwani also said she and her friends are afraid of “sweeping” — the roadblock set up by over-enthusiastic nationalists to harass Malaysians, The Jakarta Globe reported.

Early this month, anti-Malaysia group Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (People's Democracy Defence) erected a roadblock in Central Jakarta and checked the identification cards of passers-by to screen for Malaysians. None was found.

The Benteng men carried sharpened bamboo sticks, which rang alarm bells in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has roundly condemned the group and has called for all Malaysian nationals here to be protected.

“The (Malaysian) Embassy tells us not to go out if it's not necessary,” Hazwani said, adding that she and her three friends leave home only to go to UI's campus in Central Jakarta.

But classmate Noraishah Abdul Aziz takes a different view. “I think all we need is discussion,” she said. “I always tell my Indonesian classmates that most Malaysians don't know about the claims of (cultural theft) published here.”

The students said they do not understand the allegations made about cultural theft because the two nations share the same ancestry — which brings with it similar cuisine, language and cultural traditions.

“It's sometimes better not to claim things, especially when similar cultures are involved,” Noraishah told the newspaper.

She cited the desire of Malaysia's Tourism Minister Datuk Ng Yen Yen to claim laksa as a Malaysian dish. “This will just create more tensions between us. Why can't we just share all similar things together without saying, 'This is yours and that is mine'?” she said. — The Straits Times