JAKARTA: Indonesia is up in arms after a former Malaysia Umno minister Zainuddin Maidin referred to former Indonesia President BJ Habibie as a “dog of imperialism.” The statement has already begun a war of words between the two governments and Indonesia's House of Representatives said it will issue a letter to send to Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak in protest. On the streets of Jakarta, anger is also fomenting, with a number of youth movements calling for protests at the Malaysian mission in the country. “This is not needed and it is a great insult to our country,” 21-year-old economics student Jamal Hassan Abdulaziz told Bikyamasr.com on Thursday as the controversy appeared ready to grow larger. Indonesia's legislators from the lower House had taken offense to Maidin's remarks, which have added further strain to Malaysia's already fractured relationship with its regional neighbor. Earlier this year, the two Southeast Asian countries battled over cultural identity and a traditional dance that both sides claimed as their own. That incident left both countries at odds, but their relationship had largely returned to normal until this occurrence. House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung was quoted as saying in the Jakarta Globe today that as a former information minister, Zainudin should have known better how to communicate well and exercise better decorum. He added a warning that such remarks from Malaysian politicians could hurt bilateral relations between Malaysia and Indonesia. “We'll send a letter to the Malaysian prime minister. We condemn such things. “We think it is improper to make such a statement, not to mention it came from a former information minister," he said, according to the English-language daily. Zainuddin had criticised Habibie's recent public lecture at Universiti Selangor in an Utusan Malaysia editorial on Monday, calling the latter arrogant and likening him to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before ending the article by calling both men “dogs of imperialism". “I can't imagine how tortured the audience at [Universiti Selangor] must have felt to have to listen to a man with such a high ego, especially after he finally got an opportunity to speak in front of people whom he deems as dumb, after a long period when Indonesian people no longer wish to listen to him nor respect him," Maidin said in the editorial, according to the Jakarta Globe. With the issue of domestic workers and recent reports of Indonesian women being raped by police officers in Malaysia, this is unlikely to help relations push forward into the new year. Students in Indonesia remain angry over what they are calling attacks on Indonesian culture.
