Unspun

Now to rasa some sayang


Update: One of Malaysia’s most prominent and controversial bloggers, and a good friend, Ahirudin Atan aka Rocky, has written a post linking to this posting and joining in what may become a movement to seek more commonalities and to appreciate each other instead of finding fault with each other as malaysians and Indonesians.

Can we become truly serumpun neighbors again? Post your comment below and post one also in Rocky’s blog. Incidentally, Rocky admires these about Indonesia: Samsons. Broery. Widyawati. Ratno Timoer. D’Lloyds.  As Unspun has said, we bloggers may succeed where governments and politicians have failed. Hehehe)

Unspun‘s Rasa Sayang(e) posting has brought out many fascinating comments, insights and perspectives. Some commentators (both Malaysians and Indonesians) were bigoted and emotional while others were prescient and made very good points. All in all Unspun feels it contributed, and still contributes, to a vibrant discussion on the commonalities and differences, as well as the different perceptions and misperceptions of two similiar peoples divided by a narrow strip of water.

Just for the heck of it, and in keeping with the spirit of Ramadhan, let’s all, Malaysians and Indonesians, try this experiment: Leave a comment here, telling us whether you are a Malaysian or Indonesian and tell us what you admire about the other people’s country.

It’s all very easy to criticize but can we praise also? (You can still rant and rave in the other postings but just for this posting let’s all do an intellectual realignment and think positive thoughts of each other)

Jut to kick things off Unspun, as a Malaysian who enjoys and prefers living in Indonesia, will wear two hats and tell you what I admire of each country. There are many thing, naturally, but here’s just one, from each hat:

As a Malaysian I admire the self confidence of Indonesians. They are happy and contented to live in their own skins. They are all different orang (as in Sunda, Java, Maluku, Manado, Bali, Tionghua, India, Arab…) but they all view and respect each other equally as Indonesians.

If I were to use my decade of living here to think as an Indonesia, I’d admire Malaysia’s ability to build great infrastructure like its great highways and modern buildings that are clean, functional and is not breaking down after six months.

OK, that should start the ball rolling…over to you now. (Comments in English, Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu/Malaysia all welcome!)

unspun
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48 responses to “Now to rasa some sayang”

  1. Charlie Avatar
    Charlie

    I’m an Indonesian living in Singapore, a couple of times visiting JB for some local Malaysian food and shop around. Although Batam is also very near, but the bloody fiscal is a draw off 🙂 I like some Malaysian foods, aside from the bumiputera policy, the business climate is better than Indonesia, and although sad but true, they know how to market themself more than us.

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  2. a0z0ra Avatar
    a0z0ra

    I’m an Indonesian living in US & my boyfriend is a Malaysian. He has a lot of Singaporean friends thus I hang out a lot with them.

    I admire M’sian & S’porean because they are street-smart, outspoken, outgoing, open-minded, know what they want and also fearless & very discipline (things that we Indonesians lack the most IMHO).

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  3. CJCM Avatar
    CJCM

    I am Malaysian living in Kuala Lumpur.

    I admire Indonesia when it comes to language. All Indonesians speak one langguage, Bahasa Indonesia. Listening to Indonesians speaking Bahasa Indonesia is simply… NYAMAN… 🙂

    I admire Malaysia when it comes to FOODS.. hehe. I dont want to go much into it since we are in the month of Ramadhan 🙂

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  4. Chinaman Avatar
    Chinaman

    I’m a Chinese Malaysian (near retirement) living in K.L. Those young days while working with Singaporean companies, I have the opportunities to work in various projects in Sumatra & Java in 1980s & early 1990s.

    My personal experience is that most of the Indonesians are very open minded & friendly to foreigners like me. The Indonesian music & songs are my favourite. I also like Indonesian wood carvings & batik. I personally felt that Indonesians have more artistic talent than us.

    After retirement, definitely I would like to return as a tourist there.

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  5. nuraina Avatar
    nuraina

    i am singapore-born malaysian of Javanese(Banyu Mas)/Persian(Shirazi) (father’s side) and Mendahiling/Burmese (mom’s side).

    I am very connected with my Javanese/Mendahiling heritage. but proud to be Malaysian.

    I like about Indonesia — their deep regard/love for their culture. Great music, maybe a decade ahead of us.

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  6. Firsta Avatar
    Firsta

    Hi,

    I am a tourist guide. What I like about Indonesian people is about their self confidence, identity and language.

    We can learn from all of them.

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  7. Firsta Avatar
    Firsta

    Hi,

    I am a Malaysian tourist guide. What I like about Indonesian people is about their self confidence, identity and language.

    We can learn from all of them.

    Like

    Reply
  8. Food for thought Avatar
    Food for thought

    (Unspun, going on the repair mode after opening up the pandora box? :P)

    Here goes, Am Malaysian working in Jakarta.

    Indonesia, beautiful people (those that I come across), nice food, buzzing with all sort of activities and perhaps the most compelling of all is the freedom of speech and democratic practise.

    Malaysia, home is where the heart is (given a choice, might opt to retire somehere else in view of what’s going down at Bolehland). Good food. Family members and friends.

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  9. SK Avatar
    SK

    I’ve been “living” long enough in Jakarta (I think!) for about 3 months during the early of 2006 to tell you that Indonesia is a very lovely place to live in.

    Inter-cultural marriage is not a problem at all (very common though), the people are wonderful (Hmm Ong, pass my regard to Miss Dian Kartikasari? :D), the food is great and etc.

    As much as I love Malaysia as my home-country, I love Indonesia too! Given another opportunity, I don’t mind living in Jakarta for a longer period.

    More importantly Ong, you know I mean it, indeed you can be my best witness! By the way, you guys can read on what I think about Indonesia here.

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  10. Satria Asia Avatar
    Satria Asia

    I’m second generation Minangkabau Malaysian and I have nothing against my Indonesian cousins.

    We’re one and the same people — only national boundaries keep us apart. But they are more confident of who they are.

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  11. RF Avatar
    RF

    I am a Malaysian of Indonesian heritage. My father is Malaysian born but his parents were from Padang. My mother was born and bred in Medan. I was born in India, grew up in Singapore and Europe and now reside in the US. I think many Malaysians forget that our country is actually a land of immigrants. Maybe not so much within this generation but definitely in the generations past. Our national identity is especially intertwined with the cultures of our neighboring countries and so there are many things that we cannot claim as being only Malaysian. Example, the Rasa Sayang song. Indonesia should try to understand this too. Indonesia as a country know who they are. They are proud of their culture, music and arts. Malaysians unfortunately, are still searching.

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  12. Jango Ang Avatar
    Jango Ang

    The main and stark difference between Indons and Malaysians is that Malaysians are still cocooned in feudalism. Indons are more open-minded, and of course, less religious. In short, they are less semantical.

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  13. Never Ending Parasities Avatar
    Never Ending Parasities

    What I like about Malaysia is the NEP policy. This is really a wounderful policy where we non-Bumi children learn how to catch fish and not be given fish. How would you educate your next generation to be independent and be survivor of the fittest? The S’porean tried and failed in their education system but did a little better in National Service, still it is no match to having NEP right from your birth and everyday you will have to find your way out of a problem.

    If you talk of smailing for oppotunities and executing them than our childrean are at the apex. We thanks the Malaysian government for the NEP policy and that is why when we are at our adopted country no one is our match.

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  14. ambar Avatar
    ambar

    I am Javanese (both parents), living in Taipei temporary, being PR in Singapore and UK.

    I have been travel to Malaysia extensively during 2 years living in Singapore. As Charlie mention, I wasn’t bother to visit Indonesia because of *hit fiscal. I admire Malaysians for their vision ti their country. View that far beyond Indonesia’s government can achieve in the same period.

    I met lots of Javanese people in Malaysia, and seems they are happy being part of malaysia’s culture.

    Indeed that Indo-Malay had rocky relationship more likely because lacked of understanding each other. And also pres try everything to stir news, blown into out of perspective.

    We need to talk more I guess.

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  15. Martin Avatar
    Martin

    Malaysian living in Australia.

    I like Indonesian arts and craft. The stuff I saw in Bali blew me away (no pun intended). If only I had a bucket load of US dollars, I would have bought loads of wood carvings. They are amazing. Very very impressed. Nothing I’ve seen in Msia can compare. The attention to detail, the passion that they have … top class!

    There are so many things I do not like about Malaysia. I only like the food.

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  16. Baba Avatar
    Baba

    As a Malaysian, I truly admire Indonesia for its beautiful & rich culture. I’ve only visited Jakarta, Surabaya & Bali, but all these places left a strong impression on me.

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  17. rocky's bru Avatar
    rocky’s bru

    I am a Malaysian and like most Malays, my roots are in what we now call Indonesia. I’m a Minang so Sumatra is home though I’ve never been.

    What I admire most about Indonesians is their bravery. Look at its modern history: its people have been brave enough to call themselves “Indonesians” — the Chinese, Javanese, Minang, Bugis all have “Indonesian” names. There will always be racial and religious undercurrents but the most important step towards lasting unity has been taken.

    The Indonesians were brave enough to reclaim their rights from the military-led Suharto regime. Many lives were lost, many demonstrations staged. The Press in Indonesia is today the most free in the region when a few years ago it was probably more suppressed than Malaysia’s. Now, that would not have been possible if the people were not brave enough to face up to the might of the tanks and the M-16 barrels.

    Other than that, like I wrote in my blog, I like Broery, Widyawati (ok, Sophan Sophian pun boleh), Samsons, D’lloyds.

    Somebody said Slank is the best. I’ll have to check that out. I was also told nona-nona (or is it ceweks) Indonesia bergetah sekali but I won’t know.

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  18. unspun Avatar
    unspun

    @Rocky: Bro, you need to visit Jakarta badly lah. Come to where the action is.

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  19. Mat Salo Avatar
    Mat Salo

    I am Malaysian Oilfield Professional (euphemism for glorified roughneck) living Balikpapan, KALTIM.

    Being pigeon-holed from birth as ethnically ‘Malay’, in reality I am a 3rd generation Minang, maternal side and 5th or 6th generation Bugis from my paternal side. Which is ironic, right across the Straits where I work lies Makassar, a place where I’ve never been and a city where my forefathers once decided to abandon in their pinisi. But then I read in some anthropology text that Bugis are a cross between Arab and Chinese anyway…

    What I like? Hmmm . . . too numerous to mention -lah . Food, of course (Ayam Penyek, Nasi Padang) ,culture, music, spirit and will of the people, staying resolute in the face of adversity and all that. Religious tolerance. The way women call me in their unique lilting seductive voice… ‘Mas, mas’. .. I liked it so much that I can imagine myself still working in Indonesa until I retire…

    The other thing, I don’t know how to say it but I just feel like I “belong” here. Being here, living and working among its people feels natural to me. On ther hand, I sometimes feel like a foreigner or outsider when I’m in K.L. Don’t know why.

    Nuraina is right. In terms of music, eveything the Malays in Malaysia do musically is borrowed from Indonesia. We are not even close.. well, exccept for occasional inroads made by Sheila M, Siti N, Raihan, Slam & Search.

    Unspun is also correct. The real malays are actually a minority when you look at the archipelago at large. Only UMNO is interested in perpetuating Malay-this Malay-that. The rest don’t really care…

    Frankly, I don’t see myself as a Malay. Just a Malaysian with Indonesian roots. That’s why I can’t understand Malay chauvinism one bit… People like Tg. Adnan, frankly makes me ashamed to call myself a Malay… And that about sums it all, there’s good and bad people everywhere – no matter what race or ‘suku” youre from…

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  20. Opah Avatar
    Opah

    I am a Malaysian living and working in Jakarta. What I love about Indonesia:

    (i) My Muslim friends can eat in public during puasa month. According to them puasa is between them and God. (What? The police won’t lock up up for eating during puasa hours? What a concept!)

    (ii) A Christian can marry a Muslim without either party converting, unless he/she wants to. (You mean the religious police won’t take your children away? What a concept!)

    (iii) You can make a u-turn in the middle of the busiest street and get away with it, with a smile and a little thank you wave. Nobody horns at you, nobody wants to fight with you…)

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  21. kemsey Avatar
    kemsey

    I am an Indonesian. I admire Malaysia for its ability to make her people a law-abiding citizen, its economic progress and also KL is an orderly and beautiful urban centre.

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  22. Michael Chick Avatar
    Michael Chick

    Hello Mat Salo, I’m the one who did the research on the Origins of the Malays. Yes, it is true that the Bugis are pure Arab and Chinese blood concoction. But did you know where in China di they (you) originate from? Be proud man. Why? coz you may have Kublai or Gengis Khan’s blood in you! I am not shitting you. Seriously!! It’s Mongolia. The Bugis are the result of the Arabs and the Mongolians.

    To address Rocky. which part of Minang do you reside in? (you can send me a personal e-mail if you prefer). I’m currently doing research on the empowered women. Is the Matriachal systems still in place and intact in Minang? Or has it been totally destroyed by Islamization? why do i say that? (The mentality of a woman is half of that of a man’s; so says the Holy Koran) Or are the women in Minang still pretty much calling the shots?

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  23. unspun Avatar
    unspun

    @ Mat Salo: Thank you. That was a very superb and moving posting.

    @Michael chick: Good to have you back visiting this blog and bringing your great scholarship to share with us.

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  24. bleu Avatar
    bleu

    I’m an Indonesian living in KL in the past two years.

    What I admire about Malaysia is the infrastructure and relatively-well-distributed economy among its people. I admire Indonesia for being open-minded and the food.

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  25. kamarul Avatar
    kamarul

    @mike: Or has it been totally destroyed by Islamization? why do i say that? (The mentality of a woman is half of that of a man’s; so says the Holy Koran)

    what a heck and what a mess. u re totally out of context. a very messy things to say. im really sure u need to think more and less research. craps

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  26. baiti Avatar
    baiti

    I was born in Singapore and my family moved to Malaysia when I was a child. I remembered though the Indonesian ‘Che Guevaras’ on Harley motorcycles that came to visit my father at our home in Singapore. My father was an ardent supporter of Sukarno’s notion of Maphilindo and he was arrested by the Singapore government for his political alignment.
    My paternal lineage is a mix of Minang and Bugis and my maternal side is Javanese (Kendal) and Bugis (Makasar).
    I grew up on a literary and cultural diet of Indonesian books by Marah Rusli, Hamka, Achdiat K. Miharja, songs by Samson, S.Effendi, Titik Puspa, Ernie Johan, Lilies Suriani, Tety Kady and movies featuring Widyawati, Tanti Josepha, Rina Hashim, and the list goes on. In fact, I’m a fan of contemporary Indon artistes such as Irwan Shah.
    Although Malaysia is materially more developed, she can benefit from the Indonesians’ pride in their history, language, literature and culture.

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  27. kamarul Avatar
    kamarul

    and mike, im asking u to WITHDRAW ur crappy statement about Islam becoz ur totally out of the context, and if u not, we r gonna have some debate on theologian issues and im sure its gonna be a really long2 debate.

    when u quote something from the Holy Quran, it must be coupled with the correct context. It is totally different from what uve got in bibles where when ur people copied it from the jews and the romans by using latin language, uguys copied it wrongly and badly that u lost ALL the context. the hebrew that the jews used was full of metaphors, uguys copied straight away without taking the metaphors and the whole Christian dome believes it. The Holy Quran does not implies a person’s salvation on other people’s interpretation but the bibles do. Please withdraw it quickly…crap

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  28. Michael Chick Avatar
    Michael Chick

    and mike, im asking u to WITHDRAW ur crappy statement about Islam becoz ur totally out of the context, and if u not, we r gonna have some debate on theologian issues and im sure its gonna be a really long2 debate.
    MC: Hey, I’m not starting a war, I was sent that as a reference by some facist. I’m trying to prove it wrong. Please don’t flame me. Read it again. It’s not a statement. It’s a question. And since I’m sure you have the rebuttal to this, please, let’s have it. Please tell us why Muslim women are not half the mentality of a Man in Islam. And I send send the response back to the moron who sent it to me in the first place.

    when u quote something from the Holy Quran, it must be coupled with the correct context.
    MC: I fully understand the meaning of the word “context”. We use it all the time in Archaeological interpretations.

    It is totally different from what uve got in bibles where when ur people copied it from the jews and the romans by using latin language, uguys copied it wrongly and badly that u lost ALL the context. the hebrew that the jews used was full of metaphors, uguys copied straight away without taking the metaphors and the whole Christian-dom believes it.
    MC: Tell, you what, I’ll even let you in on a huge chunk of information on Christianity, (hint hint) Constantine and so on, if you will help me rebuke the statement which came from the source. No, I did not invent that statement. And I’m definitely not trying to propogate it. Please help me do that.

    The Holy Quran does not implies a person’s salvation on other people’s interpretation but the bibles do.
    MC: I’m not making war here.

    Please withdraw it quickly…crap
    MC: I’d be more than happy to publish the name of the person who worte that statement in this context, but only after I have a real rebuttal on this. Then all Muslims can send him/her the appropriate answers and counter. Please help me out here.

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  29. max Avatar
    max

    I’m a malaysian, and I’ve been to Bali twice (pleasure), and Jakarta & Surabaya. Oh, i definitely prefer Indonesian food more than Malaysian’s Malay food as it is sweeter, and not so spicy n hot liked malay’s. Bali is liked a paradise to me!

    I would really like to know what do the average Indonesians (ground level) think of Malaysia’s Malay? 2 years back in Jakarta, my colleague told me that he’s to lied to the taxi driver that he’s Singaporean because the taxi driver told him that they really hated Malaysians, especially Malays? Something like “what’s so special about Malaysian Malays (same skin color & language) that they look down on their brothers & sisters in Indonesia?” And that what pisses Indonesian off is when Malaysia yearly cull & send back illegal indonesians.

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  30. Michael Chick Avatar
    Michael Chick

    To address Max,
    “…Something like “what’s so special about Malaysian Malays (same skin color & language) that they look down on their brothers & sisters in Indonesia?” And that what pisses Indonesian off is when Malaysia yearly cull & send back illegal indonesians….”
    MC: The average malaysian also insists that the high crime rates are caused by migrant workers, ie, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Perhaps it is ethnocentric, perhaps it is fear of the unknown; “the foriegner”, but whatever the case, that seems to be the case. To that effect, it was reported yesterday that Foreigners only commit 20% of the crimes in Malaysia. The rebuttal is that since foreigners constitute to circa 10% of the total Malaysian population, (2.5million vs 26 million), there is a higher percentage of crime commited by foreigners. Meaning that the crime rate should be 10% by foreigners instead of the 20% currently reported.

    Please watch “Maid in Malaysia” on YouTube to see this for yourself. It’s a 20min painful documentary to watch. I believe it is produced by an Australian Company.

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  31. kamarul Avatar
    kamarul

    mike:I’d be more than happy to publish the name of the person who worte that statement in this context, but only after I have a real rebuttal on this.

    crap…everything u comment is based on other ppl comments….what are u??? directly taking other ppls view without checking whether it is right or wrong!!! For u to have been quoting the wrong thing from another person and making another statement out from another person’s wrong statement. for u to not having it backup by any evidence, it shows u are the same as GUILTY as the other man did. Haha and then pretending that u are so so innocent for bringing this thing up and trying to put the blame on the other guy…what a crap.

    U are the one coming up with the wrong statement with no evidence and u are expecting me to rebut ur wrong statement and then only u will give the source…what a mess. i would say for every statement or for every accusations u made and i don’t care from whom u quote, its u the one whose making it, without any PROOF or EVIDENCE itself making ut statement or accusation cannot be acceptable without me having to rebut u for God’s sake…withdraw it already…

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  32. kamarul Avatar
    kamarul

    and to mike oso, i didnt say u wanna start a war:

    u said u got that statement from a fascist, right??? for God’s sake why u believe the fascist on a theologian issue. the only things we can get from the fascist is when they talk about fascism, and the hell NO when they talk about theology. we got our theology things from fundamentalist theologian of course. but um im a fundamentalist but im not a theologian. the fact that u got it from a fascist concluded that the statement is already WRONG dude.

    theres no need for me to rebut, uve shown it wrong yourself. but um if u insist on the rebuttal though then i have to ask u to withdraw the statement first lah…then i will go and catch some theologian view on this matter…

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  33. Michael Chick Avatar
    Michael Chick

    Excellent that we see it on the same playing field. Firstly, I Michael Chick, of sound mind and body, am retracting the statement that “Women are half the Mentality of that of a Man as stated in the Koran” . However, this is not my statement. And I do hereby apologise if you misread it as such. I am resarching the question of the oppressed women in society, And the volunteer group that is formed is doing extensive research on this subject.

    The volunteer group consists of members of a handful of NGO’s and are producing a documentary on its findings. This will be in aid of the Women’s Groups from around the World. All proceeds go directly to them. This film addresses the opression and violence towards Women and Children. The “Nurin” case sparked off another great debate that such atrocities hould not happen again. And when we looked at all the newspaper reports, it was clear that all the politicians said was “we will look into it”, or “it should not happen” and so on so forth. It was never pro-active. We are doing something about this. We hope that the Documentary will create extenive awareness on the issue and help generate funds where the TV stations directly make payments to the Women’s Organizations. We will not be collecting any money at all. So please do not call us opportunists.

    To give you a little backstory, the reason I called this Dr. a facists is because every other statement that came out of his mouth is talking about the superiority of Jesus Christ, and that Islam is a bad religion. I do not agree with those statements. I also do not agree that by making another religion look bad makes one’s religion righteous. It’s ironic that he claims to have a Phd in Islam (he’s an Egyptian, btw) and yet so fiercely attacks the Muslim faith.

    And it is strange that he cites about the legality of the stoning of women (half buried) and why Islam is bad.

    Now, let’s start again, I was asking for help from anyone from the Minang area to come forward to help us in understanding the difference in the system there. The question is, ” Is the Matriachal System still in place in Minang” If so, we would like to send a TV Crew there to film it. please let me know who can help. We are also approaching the Indonesian Embassy for help on this.

    Our website is http://www.righttolivefoundation.com It is only e-mail enabled for now, and we do not have a lot of information on it yet. Please let us know if anyone can help.

    Kamarul, can you help take the first step by asking the theologian to cite the counter rebuttalon this. I believe it will help educate us all that Islam is not a BAD religion as propogated by some.

    Thank you.
    PS. I do hope you accepted my apology for the negative inference.

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  34. kamarul Avatar
    kamarul

    Alhamdulillah, In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and the Most Gracious. and of course i will help u to ask some theologian on this matter…and as a matter of the fact, it is my responsibility to do so.

    now, actually im a 4th year medical student studying in an east coast state of the malaysian peninsular where it is the only state governed by the Islamic opposition party, Kelantan. i originated from Perak, a north mid state of malaysian peninsular. well when i first arrived here in kelantan, im astonished how this islamist government with all the media propaganda and disenfranchised by the federal government could rule this state which does not only consists of muslim malays but buddhist chinese, hindus indians, christians, buddhist siamese etc; on top of that they lived happily with each other, u couldnt believed me when i said they have this largest lying buddha in the whole Southeast Asia, undisturbed.

    Now, im not saying that christian, buddha, hindu are bad. My point is religion is a good thing when we get it right. Being religious should NOT been taken as a negative point as some of the ppl here trying to make something out of it…trying to say hey being less religious is so damn good…believe me its NOT. these people, they are far more dangerous than those religious extremist, they called themselves liberals eg islamic liberals, islamic modernist whatsoever

    but um i need time to gather all my resources and the Holy Quran translations for u to understand and to make things worse, im kinda busy next week starting new ENT posting which will really slow me down. ive made my introduction of mine and i hope to get some from u. please email me at naimy2k2000@yahoo.com coz we don’t want the thread here so long full of our discussions on theologian issues.

    in order for me to take all the time i need for the preparations, i would leave u something that i quote from somebody that i admired alot, a self-educated muslim scholar, a theologian on the bibles and christiandom, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat:
    as he quotes from the Holy Quran 5:85 which means

    “The nearest to you (the muslims in faith) will thou find those who says we are christians because among them, there are many devoted learners and there are many who have renounced the words” and then he said let us sit down together on the common ground and let us argue with each other so that hopefully we can reached understanding and find THE TRUTH out of this.

    now from the theologian point of view, id say we can say that all religions are good and it is bad when we tries to make other religions looks bad. But when we talk about TRUTH we cannot say that all the religions are true, it CANNOT BE. there is ONLY ONE truth out of those goods and the job of proving the ONE truth belongs to them, the theologians and im not a theologian. It is their job to debate among themselves talking in what we called Comparative Religion Debate making history and facts as their common ground to substantiate their arguments. Humans whether we feel good or bad about it, we have to do it anyway.

    Sorry to unspun for this long comment but really not much to something similar within the subject though

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  35. Khairul Avatar
    Khairul

    Im a Malaysian.. but I do love our neighbours. Singapore,Brunei,Thailand and of course Indonesians..

    I really like Indonesia because they still have pride for their Indonesian identity,language n culture, though the teenagers everywhere in Asia are leaning towards Americanism.. i still like them Indonesians.. the music talent and the artistic nature that they have.. their preserve nature, valleys, villages, people,the Islamic community, the habaib’s,the Habshi’s,the Pesantren and many more…

    everyone has their bad attitude but we skip that one-lah..

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  36. unspun reader Avatar
    unspun reader

    ah, this is a thread i like better. let’s all just look from the positive angle for once.

    i want to visit your Petronas twin tower one day. they look so fascinating in the documentaries i’ve watched.

    but that’s not gonna happen until i travel all over my own country (read: Indonesia) to get know it better 😉

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  37. ahaha Avatar
    ahaha

    What I like abt Indonesia? Well, the scenery is superb, and the originality of the food and the taste, oh man.. Nasi Padang, Sunda food ohhh dah la bulan puasa.. adoh… Tourism should do very well in Indonesia if they behave like the Thais (in fact they can be even better).

    Malaysia, well its well organise but the arrogant of its people might drive away the tourist (even the local ones). Although the fusion of food and culture is unknown to other country, they lack the originality (becoming more and more like Australia).

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  38. Ollie Avatar
    Ollie

    I’m Indonesian living in Jakarta.

    I love Malaysian’s LRT coz we don’t have one 😀 I like how Malaysia build their infrastructures and maintain it. Plus, I have very kind Malaysian friends who would do just about anything to please me.

    However, this Rasa Sayange thing really have hurt and disappointed me. Because ‘family’ shouldn’t do this to each other. Maybe Malaysian Government could pick other song that is less controversial and not hurting their sibling’s feeling.

    It’s not even about the song. IMHO, it’s about the broken hearted Indonesian towards Malaysian Attitude.

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    1. J B Jalil Avatar
      J B Jalil

      oh come on…

      Rasa sayange is owned by everyone in the Malay Archipelago, not just Indons -n so there is no need for any Indpn to feel hurt

      (BTW I’m not Malaysian)

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  39. LC_Teh Avatar
    LC_Teh

    More than 20 years ago I was in Jakarta. I bought some audio tapes which cost only RM3 each from their roadside stalls. They are still playable today. Original tapes I got here locally, for which I paid paid RM12-RM15, have all kaput in half that time. They do produce good quality products.

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  40. triedtobehonest Avatar
    triedtobehonest

    I like Malaysia’s product of Vinnci Shoes!!!! Vinnci really really very durable. I have my first Vinnci like 3 years ago and the stuff are still wearable up untill now. If i bought sandals or shoes in Indonesia, they only last about a month in my feet 🙂
    What i dont like about Indonesia? its how the importers outrageously triple the original price when they sell it here. for Malaysians living in jakarta, I am sure you know what I mean.

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  41. Vic.Kyle.Ellanne Avatar
    Vic.Kyle.Ellanne

    I like Bakso, ha ha ha ha.
    Agree with Unspun that finally, there’s are some positive comments.
    So far, everything I heard from friends visiting Indonesia are good.

    At last at this thread people are talking to people rather than assuming everyone is like their goverment.

    I admit I never knew Rasa Sayange was from Maluku although I sang it everyday when I learnt it. I also like Burung Kakak Tua, this I was told from Indonesia.

    There are always praises for Indonesian worker with their fine skills in construction, too bad they cost as expensive as a Malaysian workers now but mostly worth it.

    I’m still thrilled that Indonesia is rich in tales & legends. Many stories I heard in childhood were Indonesians and always facinated by them.

    You see, when our nenek moyang tells their tales, they forgot or didn’t mention it’s origin assuming that their little cucu-cicik remembers their roots thus linked the origin, i.e Bugis tales, Minangs tales, Acheh tales etc. Also, you don’t expect a young non-malay kid like me would ask the nenek which ethnic she was.

    Even from buku cerita that tales and legends starts with “Long long time ago” or “Dalam zaman terdahulu”and many left out where the event took place.

    So most would assume it’s from Nusantara or Kepulauan Melayu since that they were told in Malay/Indonesian and people starts to leaves out the details. Some people may know it but not everyone.

    So please, don’t say we stole the song. We are sharing many similiar cultures and even the Malaysian Chinese promotes this song to Taiwan. If there’s no borders between Indonesia and Malaysia, this issue wouldn’t arise, doesn’t it?

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  42. ardyalmatsir Avatar
    ardyalmatsir

    hi Michael C,

    regarding minangkabau info you can try kotogadang-pusako.com.

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  43. Miyuu Avatar
    Miyuu

    I’m Vietnamese and my boyfriend is Indonesian. So i love both countries.

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  44. Simon Cruel Avatar
    Simon Cruel

    A friend and myself have been arguing about an issue similar to this one! Now I know that I was right. lol! marked you as a fave so i’l; be back 😀

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  45. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    Very helpful! Look forward to reading more 😉

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  46. Video User Avatar
    Video User

    I really liked your blog! Bookmarked for future references

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  47. Dani Avatar
    Dani

    Hi everyone..Im from Kedah,Malaysia..my ancestor are from south thai/pattani and of course Kedah, so I pretty much dont have any blood relationship watsoever with Indonesian but wats that matter to you all,..right? So, yeah, I never been to Indonesia before but I still admired them. Indonesian are hard workers, open-minded people and I enjoy having conversation with them especially the TKI..hmmm..yeah I guess thats about it..pretty short but this will do..sorry for the poor english.

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