| Jakarta Globe, |
JAKARTA,
Dec 13: Indonesia’s House of Representatives says it will soon send a
letter to Malaysian authorities in protest of a recent editorial
published in a Malaysian newspaper that referred to former Indonesian
President B.J. Habibie (pic) as a “dog of imperialism.”“We’ll send a letter to the Malaysian prime minister. We condemn such things,” House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“We think it is improper to make such a statement, not to mention it came from a former information minister. He should have known better as to how to communicate well with his neighbors,” Pramono added, as reported by Indonesian news portal vivanews.com.
In an editorial piece published by Malaysian newspaper Utusan Malaysia on Monday, former Malaysian Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin criticized Habibie’s recent public lecture at Malaysia’s Universiti Selangor, calling him arrogant and likening the former president to Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim before ending the article by calling them both “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.
Pramono said Maidin’s statement could hurt bilateral ties between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Separately, the chairman of Indonesia’s ruling Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, issued a statement similarly condemning Maidin’s commentary.
“The former Malaysian minister’s party, namely UMNO, needs to teach him a lesson on decorum,” Anas said. “They shouldn’t have brought former President Habibie into their political competitions by insulting him. This is truly regrettable.”
Anas urged the Indonesian government to speak out against the editorial and demand that Maidin apologize to Habibie.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa earlier said on Tuesday that the government would not respond to the article, calling it an insignificant matter.
“That is obviously a silly view. I haven’t read the article and I’m not interested in reading it. I think we already have too many tasks to pay attention to a former minister from Malaysia,” Marty said.
The Habibie Center, a foundation established by Habibie, responded to the Malaysian article by quoting Habibie on its Twitter account: “when s’one insults u,take it as a compliment that they spend so much time thinking abt u, when u don’t even think abt them” [sic].
Anwar, meanwhile, called Maidin “mediocre” and blasted his writing as “arrogant” and “representative of the UMNO elites’ prejudices against the neighbor [Indonesia].”
The editorial was no longer available at Utusan Malaysia’s website at the time of writing on Wednesday.
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