The situation is deteriorating quickly because acts like the idiots in the clipping below, as well as the ultra idiots Bendera of the faeces throwing notoriety incenses the Malaysians; who then make understandable but aggravating statements like the one where the Indonesian government should keep such groups in check; which then aggravates Indonesians who bristle at what is perceived as another incidence where Malaysia is trying to assert its sense of superiority against Indonesians.

There is, however, an opportunity for both governments to come up with a win-win solution and in the process get rid of the some of themore idiotic elements of their societies. A win-win-win-win solution!

What the government should do is strike a deal. The Indonesian government should prosecute and ban groups like Bandera and the Laska Merah Putih. In return the Malaysian government should ban their own bunch of idiots that come under the banner of RELA. All these groups bring bad repute to their respective countries and cause the public at either side of the straight to harbor ill feelings for each other.

Just think: by banning these groups the Indonesian government would be perceived by the Malaysians as doing something solid toward solving the problem of strained ties; it would be perceived by Indonesians as doing something positive for Indoensians by getting rid of the much hated and despised RELA.

The Malaysian government can claim to Malaysians that it manage to get their Indonesian counterpart to act decisively for a change and it would appease the other races with the dismantling of RELA.

So everyone wins, we can go back to our normal lives and even feel good about our governments. Now, isn’t that a better option than all the petty sniping at each other that, if it gets out of control, would have immense financial, security and safety implications for all of us on both sides of the Malacca Straits?

clipped from www.thejakartaglobe.com Ultranationalist Mobs Raid Malaysian Banks Farouk Arnaz & Antara | August 31, 2010 Jakarta. Recent anti-Malaysia sentiment took a criminal twist on Monday when an ultranationalist group stormed into two Malaysian-controlled banks in Makassar, South Sulawesi, and forced their early closure. Dozens of members of the Red and White Troops (Laskar Merah Putih) broke into a branch of CIMB Niaga bank, which is majority-owned by CIMB, Malaysia’s second-largest financial service provider. Police and security officers attempted to stop the mob, but were unable to because they were heavily outnumbered. The demonstrators came on dozens of motorbikes and a pick-up truck to the bank branch located on Jalan Ahmad Yani, news portal Detik.com reported. The group forced the employees to “declare [their] love for Indonesia” and leave the bank.

Instead of practicing armchair journalism the paper might do better to investigate the roots of the Malaysia-Indonesia conflict and give us the raw information on who is Bandera, who funds them and why.

So chop, chop, off your asses and do some journalism instead.

An excerpt from the New Straits Times article headlined Indonesian media, blogs seek end to protests:

The Jakarta Globe on Friday, however, quoted Indonesian National Police spokesman Brig-Gen Iskandar Hasan as saying that despite the offensive nature of their conduct, the demonstrators could not be charged for throwing faeces.

“If there is no article to charge them with, then we cannot charge them.”

This drew the criticism of a blogger (http://theunspunblog.com/ ) who wrote: “If he is right then there is no legal provision whatsoever to charge anyone who throws (faeces) on another person.

“This is great ammunition for protesters who may want to vent their frustrations out at the police themselves for, say, failure to clean house?”

A commentary piece in the Jakarta Post on Friday suggested in a light vein that Malaysia and Indonesia fall back on the traditional Malay way of settling disputes — having a duel of pantun.

The writer, Endy M. Bayun, said: “Before the latest dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia escalates any further, in the spirit of Malay brotherhood, we should hold a pantun war that pits President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono against Prime Minister (Datuk Seri) Najib Razak. Give pantun, and peace, a chance.”

The comment piece was picked up and highlighted by several prominent Indonesian bloggers, including A. Fatih Syuhud who wrote: “I think if both countries really want peace, both of us, Malaysia and Indonesia, should act with honesty. Mutual trust should be there among the conflicting countries.”

via Indonesian media, blogs seek end to protests.

So Najib and SBY just make nice and let’s get on with life.

clipped from surabaya.detik.com Malang - Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) dengan tegas menolak mahasiswa dari Malaysia menimba ilmu di bidang kedokteran dan farmasi. Pasalnya, peralatan canggih dan biaya mahal milik negara di Fakultas Kedokteran hanya sarana belajar mahasiswa dalam negeri. “Kami secara jelas menolak mahasiswa dari Malaysia, begitu juga dari negara lain. Karena fasilitas kita gunakan bukan untuk memberikan ilmu kepada bangsa lain. Dan juga melanggar peraturan untuk melakukan itu,” kata Rektor UMM Muhajjir Efendi kepada wartawan di Kampus UMM Jalan Raya Sumbersari, Senin (30/8/2010). Muhajjir membantah sikap ini terkait hubungan yang tengah memanas antara Indonesia dengan negeri jiran itu. Namun hal itu merupakan kebijakan dari UMM sendiri. “Kalau belajar di jurusan dan fakultas lain, kami persilahkan saja,” terangnya.

The Blogshop was held at Universitas Negeri Padang and about 50 aspiring bloggers attended. In the evening we had buka puasa with Palanta members as well as the local members of the online communities at a – what else – Padang Restaurant. PB+ Chairperson Irayani Queencyputri and PB 2009 Chairman Iman Brotoseno represented the Steering Committee. Representatives from PB+2010′s main sponsor, the US Embassy and partners dagdigdug were also there.

Padang is the second of 10 cities that will hold Blogshops as a run up to Pesta Blogger+ 2010 on October 30.

Here are some photos from the Blogshop and Mini Pesta Blogger+

Unspun thinks that the Indonesia-Malaysia spat is getting very shrill and both sides need to sit down without their professional politicians involved and sort things out.

What’s intriguing is this morning’s story in The Jakarta Globe quoting National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Iskandar Hasan explaining why three protesters belonging to a group calling themselves Bendera, which threw faces faeces during a protest at the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, could not be prosecuted.

clipped from www.thejakartaglobe.com Three Bendera protesters were arrested during Monday’s rally but were released after less than 24 hours. National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said that despite the offensive nature of their conduct, the protesters could not be charged for throwing feces. “Everything should be based on legal procedures if we want to name someone a suspect and make an arrest,” he told reporters at his office on Thursday. “If there is no article to charge them with, then we cannot charge them.”

If he is right then there is no legal provision whatsoever to charge anyone who throws shit on another person. Unspun’d say that this is great ammunition for protesters who may want to vent their frustrations out at the Police themselves for, say, failure to clean house?

In Chong’s world the men, it would seem, are like Ceasar’s wife – above suspicion. If there is a domestic situation that prompts the wife to take their children home to her parents, then it must be the fault of the wife.

And if the wife is from a country that is perceived by many Malaysians to be more backward than Malaysia — such as Vietnam, Indonesia and China — then all the more proof that the wife is at fault.

It probably hasn’t occurred to Chong that the men that go to him for help are precisely the very same men who cannot successfully woo the “pretty, talented and intelligent Malaysian women” he speaks of, and therefore have to resort to matchmakers.

That is an euphemism for wife buying.

So what needs to be asked is what sort of a man who has to buy a wife is likely to be as a husband and a father. Is he likely to be the understanding, loving and trusting type that can easily be duped and taken advantage of by sinister foreign women?

Or is he more likely to be emotionally and perhaps socially inapt, perhaps even violent or aggressive toward his wife and children?

So instead of warning ingenuous Malaysian Chinese men against marrying foreign women, Chong should perhaps turn to counseling them to become better and more caring husbands.

The Malaysian Chinese Association is warning its members against taking foreign wives, including from Indonesia.

Datuk Michael Chong, head of the MCA’s public services and complaints department, was quoted by Malaysian newspaper The Sun as saying that the advice had been spurred after a number of foreign wives kidnapped their Malaysian children and returned to their home countries permanently.

“From 2009 till now, I have come across 13 cases where the men complained that their wives took their children to their villages and didn’t come back,” he was quoted as saying. “Efforts to contact their wives were also futile as they have switched off their phones. They cannot be traced,” Chong said.

He said that the number of such incidents was increasing, with six incidents in 2009 and seven already so far this year.

Chong, according The Star newspaper, said statistics showed that some 10 percent of such foreign wives who returned to their home countries with the children had refused to come back to the husbands.

“Two men came back after getting badly beaten up by the locals there. Even the embassies cannot help much. They [embassy officials] can’t go to these villages either. They are helpless,” he told The Sun.

Chong told the Sun that the women, who are in their early 20s, are usually from Vietnam, Indonesia and China and their Malaysian husbands are usually in their late 30s and above. Some of them have been married for less than two years.

Chong also handed out some advice, saying that if the women wanted to take their children back to their hometowns on the pretext of having a holiday, then the husbands should accompany them.

Or, he said, do not apply for a passport for the child.

He said many of the victims had met their wives through match-making agencies.

“Don’t take a foreign wife. There are many pretty, talented and intelligent Malaysian women to choose from,” he added.

via Malaysian Chinese Warn Against Marrying Foreign Women | The Jakarta Globe.

(Disclosure: Unspun has an Indonesian wife and has no problems in applying a passport for our child. Unspun’s also unperturbed about the prospect of Wife taking child back to hometown. Its Jakarta and a very urbane part of the city where Unspun would not fear to go to (if his phone calls go unanswered) because they are even more urbane and cultured than Unspun.)

Still there may be a day when the embarrassment overcomes the money-making impulse. Unspun‘s contended in the past ( here) that APCO’s taken a job to defend the indefensible in this assignment.

The question is where’s the tipping point.

clipped from zorro-zorro-unmasked.blogspot.com IS APCO CALLING IT A DAY? “APCO is calling it quits,” he sneered. Before I could speak he continued: “We are beyond repair. Irreparable image if we can call our mess, image . Uncoachable. More like what your friend Wenger J Khairy said: ‘ face to sell to the global community, whether it is for investment or to present the case of the Government vs. Anwar Ibrahim.’” He gave me no chance and continued: “Back home in the US of A, APCO has lost loads of credibility associating with us. They can’t get a credible blogger to malign DSAI. They got a nondescript hilly-billy instead. Even a hobo or even some street-people in Akron, Ohio, could have made a better attempt. They couldn’t get either NYT, WSJ or Washinton Post to do an op-ed for them. Washington Times did ……at worst a puppy-poo paper!” “What broke APCO’s back?” I asked. “That stupid Youtube!”

In a rambling post that, among other things, evoked the Indonesian struggle between farmers and nobles (petani dan bangsawan)and probably the spirit of Karl Marx and Woodstock, the author essentially said that Pesta Blogger was not worth going to or participating in. Among the reasons he gave were that some members of the Pesta Blogger committee were stand-offish, the “celebrity bloggers” were elitist and that the event did not try to address some of the ills of the country.

His posting has attracted many diverse views. At last count there were over a hundred comments, some agreeing and some disagreeing with Blontank Poer.

Blontank: Party Pooper?

The conversation got even more spirited yesterday when Iman Brotoseno, who was Pesta Blogger chairman last year and was once too a critic of Pesta Blogger waded into the fray with his posting There is Nothing Wrong with Partying (Tak ada yang salah dengan Pesta). Iman’s view is that Pesta Blogger was set up and meant to continue as a Pesta, a party, where bloggers can meet, celebrate their common pastime and chill. So its critics should relax and not try to push their own agendas and angst on Pesta Blogger.

Iman: Party Animal?

The entry was posted only yesterday and has attracted 20 comments so far.

Where will this particular conversation go? It remains to be seen. Perhaps it is fitting that the theme of this year’s Pesta Blogger is Celebrating Diversities. Let a hundred flowers bloom.

I have to pay for security guards because the  police are hopeless.
I have to install filters because the water supply is dirty.
I have to watch satellite tv because the government broadcasts crap.

Many kids have to go for tuition or to private schools because the government schools are bad.
We have to pay IPPs (independent power providers) because the government cannot provide consistent electricity.

We have to pay Indah Water to clean up the sewers.
We have to pay tax on foreign cars because Mahathir wants to keep his dying local car industry alive. ON top of it APs cost bcoz of his cronies.
Most have to drive because the government cannot provide good public transport.

We have to pay to sustain the government’s affirmative action policies.
We have to pay for private health care because the public hospitals are crowded .
All in all, we have to pay a PREMIUM to stay in this country!

1Malaysia Boleh!!!
DAMN!!!!!