MALAYSIA-INDONESIA BROTHERHOOD TOO STRONG TO BE BROKEN - NU

JAKARTA, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- The brotherhood between Indonesia and Malaysia
is too strong to be broken by the egos of individuals, says Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
advisory council leader KH Masdar Farid Mas'udi.

Nahdlatul Ulama, established in 1926, is the biggest Islamic organisation in
Indonesia with an estimated membership of 30 million.

"If we have a conflict, we are the ones who will be at the losing end
because the others, who dislike our brotherhood, will take advantage of the
situation," Masdar told Bernama, here, Sunday.

He was commenting on the dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia following
an incident at the Malaysia-Indonesia maritime border near Pulau Bintan, Riau
Archipelago, on Aug 13.

In the incident, seven Malaysian fishermen were detained by the Indonesian
Marine and Fisheries Ministry, while Malaysian marine police arrested three
enforcement officers from the Indonesian ministry, for alleged encroachment of
each other's territorial waters.


Although those detained were released by the authorities of both countries
on Aug 17, Indonesian activists continued to show their anger at Malaysia by
staging demonstrations and demanding an apology, and pressuring the Indonesian
government to adopt a firm attitude towards Malaysia over border problems
between the two countries.

Masdar said Malaysia and Indonesia were like brothers who had so much in
common, like ethnicity, language and religion, and their quarrel usually would
not last very long.

"Maybe we are too close, so we dare to disturb each other. People who are
not that close will not act like that. Although we quarrel a lot, we will not
get into a really serious conflict," he said.

Masdar said Malaysia's attitude which was seen as underestimating Indonesia
was actually a motivation for Indonesia to keep up and develop the country in
all aspects.

He said this was because although Indonesia was bigger and richer in natural
resources, it still lagged far behind Malaysia.

"I think this is also a motivation for Indonesian leaders to buck up and
raise their people's competitiveness and not try to intimidate others," he
added.

-- BERNAMA



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