Last Monday, Bendera (Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat) held a rally outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta where some 500 protesters burned the Jalur Gemilang, in addition to stomping, spitting and smearing faeces on it. They also reportedly threw faeces into the compound.
The demonstration, which lasted for an hour, was in protest of what the group claimed to be Malaysia’s disrespect for Indonesia following the arrest of three Indonesian fisheries officials by Malaysian marine police near Pengerang, Johor on August 13.
In a comparatively muted affair, Umno Youth and Perkasa Youth leaders, together with the 4B Youth Movement, gathered peacefully outside the Indonesian Embassy before being allowed in to present their memorandum to embassy representative Widyarka Ryananta. “This appears to be an annual event. Every time Indonesia celebrates its independence, this sort of thing will happen,” Umno Youth Federal Territory chief Rizalman Mokhtar said.
“We asked that the Indonesian leadership put a stop to this immediately and identify the masterminds behind Bendera.”
He said Bendera appeared to be well-organised and bent on ruining the relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia, and claimed that there was a hidden agenda behind the group’s provocative actions.
“More importantly, the group seems intent on destroying the Malay kinship that exists between the two countries,” he said.
He stressed that a diplomatic solution needed to be found, and hoped that Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr Marty Natalegawa’s visit to Malaysia this Monday will be the starting point for discussions on the issue.
Umno Youth executive councillor Tengku Azman Tengku Zainol Abidin added that the Malay youth groups — which had been prepared to overlook Bendera’s actions — were forced to act following a second round of protests held outside the Malaysian Embassy on Wednesday.
The protesters, who claimed to represent the Jakarta law undergraduates movement, defiled the Malaysian flag with eggs before setting fire to it and hurling it into the embassy compound.
They also threw rotten eggs and salted fish into the embassy compound and defiled the name plaque of the embassy with wheat flour and rotten salted fish.
Several of them carried banners which bore words condemning Malaysia, saying diplomacy was dead and wanting Malaysia to be “crushed”.
Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifah urged Indonesian authorities to find a solution within two weeks out of respect for diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.
He was also quick to point out the difference between Malaysian and Indonesian embassy protests.
“To show that we are professional and have respect for the law, only the leaders came today to hand over the memorandum,” he said.
“This shows that we are not like those extremist factions in Indonesia.”