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NST Leader: Malaysia-Indonesia ties prove all enduring

That Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesian President Joko Widodo reaffirmed commitments to strengthen bilateral ties to promote trade, regional peace, security and stability is already a given.

It testifies to the lasting relationship both nations consensually first forged in a 1957 diplomatic accord that survived the bad years of the 1963-66 Sukarno-conspired Confrontation.

To be sure, with Confrontation the exception, the two nations' cosy ties are unfettered, no matter who the prime minister or president is at the time.

Malaysia's attachment to Indonesia and vice versa goes back to the 7th century, when the kingdoms of Majapahit, Aceh, Srivijaya and Johor-Riau thrived, underscored by the Malacca Sultanate at its prime of trade and international relations. Now, it's a RM130 billion trading partnership and much more. Then there was the periodic sibling spats. The two nations rumbled over the 1966 maritime boundaries of the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea, particularly the territorial dispute, now settled, over the oil-rich islands of Ambalat in the Sulawesi Sea.

In recent years, neighbourhood arguments, thankfully, centred boisterously but peacefully on the (illegal) flow of Indonesian migrant labour and the great sporting rivalries in badminton and football, where fans' emotions boil over every time the two nations square off.

Another issue that had riled culturally-conscious Indonesians was the Malaysian propensity to adopt popular Indonesian traditional culture and songs as their own. Gamelan and some old Indonesian songs have been performed by Malaysian artists at global fests, while a few ditties became festival anthems at Malaysian meets.

This is easily explained: Malaysia is host to the biggest Javanese population outside of Indonesia, the Javanese Malay communities still speak the patois of their old homeland in the central and southern peninsula states. So, it doesn't go against the grain if these "Indonesian" Malays, many of whom are naturalised, feel such affinity for their distant cousins to want to sing their songs and play their music.

Ethnic Minangkabau and Bugis also migrated to Tanah Melayu to form major components in the socio-political composition of the country. The deputy prime minister and Umno president is a significant example.

In conclusion, no matter what the tiff is, Malaysia's and Indonesia's historical commonalities are legion: other than kinship, culture and, to a certain extent, language, they also embrace the same religion.

The memory of Confrontation is fast fading: Malaysia and Indonesia are now family, strategic partners and best friends. If one is ever threatened, the other will surely come to its defence.

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