Dewangga Pratama

It is normal that people are furious of other nation's attitude.

An economist from Intercafe IPB, Iman Sugema, claimed that the Malaysian government should have not responded openly over the situation in Indonesia as it helps heating up the conflict.

Iman said the Malaysian government does not have to release any sensitive statement about the dispute. "The two governments should have been calmer. How can we teach 200 million population to behave well at the same moment? It's indeed difficult," said Iman last night in the parliamentary complex.

According to Iman, it is normal that people are furious of other nation's attitude. Iman sides with the Indonesian government on its prudence in circulating public statement.

"If there is a bargain on economic issue, Malaysia would be nervous. Let's say Indonesia and Malaysia breaks its relations. Then the Indonesian migrant workers would be sent home. Who would take care of their oil palm plantations?"

Malaysia, he said, depends much on the Indonesian migrant workers whose number reaches an estimate of two million. "One out of 10 Malaysians is Indonesian," he said.

In addition, Malaysia will be annoyed by the dispute since many of its investors are in Indonesia.

"Should the relations break, what would happen to their investment? How about their companies? What would they do with their oil palm plantations?"

"As regards export, we can easily shift our option to China and India, whose markets are 50 times better than the Malaysia's," he said.