There’s a widespread perception
in Australia that Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s reaction to
Australia’s phone tapping is all about playing domestic politics in
Yudhoyono’s home country. It only superficially relates to the election or to
shoring up support for Yudhoyono’s party – it really boils down to personal
pride.
One rule of espionage
holds that even friends
should spy on each other. But the rules of diplomacy hold that if
you are caught, you had better be apologetic.
How might it look to the
Indonesians?
There is no way around
the fact that Indonesia is annoyed. It’s a cliché to say that saving face is
important in Asian culture, but there is an underlying truth to this in
Indonesian culture.
Malu means to be shy, embarrassed or ashamed. It’s a very
ambivalent feeling which one both rejects and aspires to. In one sense, you
don’t want to be too malu. Indonesians often feel malu, for
example, that their nation doesn’t get into the World Cup, that their
technology is relatively undeveloped, and so on.
And yet, a malu
person is humble and modest. In this sense, it is a very esteemed quality in an
individual, and crucial in restraining passions such as sexual drive and anger.
It enables one to negotiate – and perhaps even gracefully manipulate – social
situations and interactions. But it also means to know one’s place.
If you don’t act malu
when you should, you risk offending somebody. And one very formal – if rarely
used – insult is tidak tahu malu, or: “you don’t have a sense of shame”.
This was a prominent theme when Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono complained on
Twitter about “the statement by Australia’s PM that belittles that
spying on Indonesia", which was without rasa bersalah, which means
“without feeling guilty/wrong” or “without remorse”.
The flipside of this is bangga,
which is self-esteem. In a perverse way, being spied on by United States and
(to a much lesser extent) Australia demonstrates to Indonesia its importance in
global politics. Also, through being malu, Indonesia may be able to
manipulate this situation, creating a sense of pride.
So, in a contradictory
way the problem is that Indonesia feels too malu and Australia is not malu
enough. In other words, Australia and prime minister Tony Abbott have not acted
appropriately towards Indonesia and Yudhoyono. It’s not so much about saying
sorry (as many Australians have urged of Abbott), but more about adopting the
correct demeanour for the situation.
For both sides there
will be posturing. Abbott has to appeal to his domestic constituency and
Indonesian politicians are gearing up for national elections in 2014. But
underneath this, a serious issue of malu resides for Indonesia.
Yudhoyono yesterday escalated the
diplomatic crisis by
suspending joint Australia-Indonesia patrols to combat people smuggling and
other military co-operation and intelligence sharing activities. Abbott
responded by taking to parliament to express:
…deep and sincere regret
about the embarrassment to the president and to Indonesia that’s been caused by
recent media reporting.
Foreign minister Marty
Natalegawa’s reaction
to this was:
I don’t get it. Why
would the President of Indonesia be embarrassed? I believe the embarrassment
should belong to the government of Australia.
So Abbott is now at a
crossroads. He can back down and try to restore co-operation, or
risk the relationship crumbling, which could have major implications for both
nations.
For Indonesia, among
what is at stake is Australian aid. Australia, the largest bilateral
grant-based donor to Indonesia, has invested A$1,378 million in the previous
three years. But it is worth noting that Indonesia no longer wants to be
considered the poor neighbour. It wants to be proud (bangga) of the fact
that it is the largest
economy in southeast Asia, and it is projected to be the world’s
seventh largest economy by 2030.
For Australia, trade is
one key issue at stake. Indonesia is Australia’s third largest agriculture
market, with exports
worth A$2.3 billion in 2012. Australia’s main agricultural exports to Indonesia
are wheat, cotton, live animals, meat, horticultural products and sugar.
Indonesia buys, Australia provides.
But Indonesia is trying
to attain self-sufficiency by purchasing
land in Australia to provide for its own needs in cattle export. For
Indonesia, this is another show of pride (bangga) that Indonesia has the
economic capabilities to do so; as well as being Australia’s important
“market”.
The education sector,
however, seems relatively insulated. For Indonesians, there is pride (bangga)
in being educated in an Australian institutions just like
the vice president Boediono (Monash) and foreign minister Marty Natalegawa
(ANU). This area of Indonesian investment in Australia therefore appears safe.
So, what’s the upshot of
the diplomatic row? It’s clear that Abbott leads a rookie government that has
backed itself into a corner. It’s time for the prime minister to learn a thing
or two about Indonesian culture and how to work with world leaders in the
region. In the meantime, he may end up feeling malu if the boats start
arriving after Indonesia stops co-operating.
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