Indonesian tempers flare at Malaysia over YouTube parody of national anthem

Indonesians are up in arms over a viral video on YouTube that insults the country's national anthem - one that was purportedly posted by a Malaysian user, underlining the love-hate relationship between the two Southeast Asian nations.

Tempers flared when the video, entitled "Indonesia Raya Instrumental (Parody + Lyrics)", in the Malay dialect of the language both countries share, went viral over the weekend. It was originally posted two weeks ago by an account named "MY Asean", which used a Malaysian flag as its profile picture.

The video twisted the lyrics of Indonesia's national anthem, for example from "Indonesia my motherland" to "Indonesia my misfortune".

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Another verse contained a reference wishing ill upon Indonesian President Joko Widodo, while there was also an offensive pun on the name of the country's founding father, Sukarno, who in the 1960s declared a Ganyang Malaysia, or "Crush Malaysia", campaign following the country's formation.

It also changed Indonesia's emblem from the Garuda, or Javan hawk-eagle, into a frightened chicken, while superimposed in the background were pictures of a child urinating on an Indonesian flag.

The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur had reported the video to Malaysian police, Indonesia's foreign ministry said.

"The Malaysian government has taken actions, as per Indonesia's request, including [requesting that YouTube] take down the video," foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told This Week in Asia on Monday.

Yoshi Iskandar, coordinator of information and social culture functions at Indonesia's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said the Malaysian authorities were still investigating the matter.

"We appeal to Indonesians to restrain themselves and respect the investigation process currently ongoing according to the applicable law," Yoshi said.

Malaysia's embassy in Jakarta on Sunday promised "strict action" if the video was found to have been uploaded by a Malaysian citizen.

"The government of Malaysia strongly condemns any negative provocations that are intended to affect the close bilateral relations between Malaysia and Indonesia," it added.

The original video, which has been viewed at least 44,000 times, has been taken down and the account deleted, but some YouTube users have reposted the video. One even revived the MY Asean account to "provide the evidence for the [Indonesian] government" when they follow up the matter with their Malaysian counterparts.

One commenter under one of those videos wrote: "We need to punish the uploader as tough as we can, let's not just stay idle."

Another wrote: "We can't tolerate this any more, Indonesia's dignity has been trampled before our eyes, Indonesia cannot sit by."

While the neighbours have a relatively good bilateral relationship, their citizens are caught up in a seemingly perpetual rivalry that occasionally blows up over everything from food to culture and sports.

Indonesia and Malaysia have previously bickered over the origins of rendang, a marinated beef delicacy; shadow puppets; traditional dances; and even who was first to come up with nasi goreng, or fried rice - an argument that also usually involves Singapore.

The rivalry typically peaks during football games or badminton matches between the two countries, when national pride is on the line.

Agung Nurwijoyo, an international relations lecturer at University of Indonesia, said the video marred the good relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia, particularly after both countries earlier this month were honoured by Unesco for their shared intangible cultural heritage of pantun - the traditional Malay poetic form that is typically expressive and witty.

"Under the assumption that the uploader is a Malaysian, this would have a long-term effect in [worsening] the people-to-people relationship between the two countries," Agung said.

"While this is not a state-to-state dispute, the Indonesian government needs to demand the Malaysian government investigate the matter completely. The investigation should also be transparent, as we are now living in the information age."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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