British Puppet Malaysia: Soekarno's Reason For Not Accepting The Independence Of His Neighbors

Soekarno (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - The confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia has a long history. During the reign of President Soekarno, eruptions of confrontation were sparked. Bung Karno at that time called Malaysia a British puppet. There is a reason. In Soekarno's eyes, granting independence to Malaysia was a British strategy to destabilize Southeast Asia. The 'Ganyang Malaysia' movement was voiced by Big Brother.

Based on history, since the middle of the 18th century, the land of Malaya has been controlled by the British. After that, February 8, 1956, Britain gave independence to Malaysia. However, in 1961, Britain planned the formation of the Malaysian Federation State which joined the Tanah Melayu, Singapore, Sarawak and Brunei alliance. Suddenly, the plan was opposed by Soekarno. The number one person in Indonesia considered the formation of the Malaysian Federation State as a project of British neocolonialism.

"Indonesia suspects British intrigue and hates the fact that the Malaysian Federation will be established on September 16 (1963)," said Baskara Wardaya in Indonesia Against America in the Cold War Conflict 1953-1963 (2008).

Soekarno was worried that the Malaya region would become a Western military base in Southeast Asia. The base, said Bung Karno, could disrupt stability in the Southeast Asian region. Quoted from Tjipta Lesmana in the book From Soekarno to SBY (2008), this suspicion was as expressed by Bung Karno at the beginning. The presence of Malaysia is only as a "Nekolim puppet" against Indonesia.

In its journey, it is not only Indonesia that refuses to recognize Malaysia's existence. The Philippines followed in the footsteps of Indonesia, which did not agree with the formation of the Malaysian federation. Because of this action, Indonesia and the Philippines were in opposite positions from Malaysia and Britain.

"Down with Malaysia"

Bung Karno's refusal was what angered the youths in Malaysia. They then pelted the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur as a result of Bung Karno's attitude. At the same time, a few days after that Malaysia broke off diplomatic relations with Indonesia on 17 September 1963. Not wanting to be outdone, Indonesia also ended its trade relations with Malaysia on 23 September 1963.

"Why is Malaysia also involved in the history of the Indonesian nation? This happened when the anti-Indonesian demonstration emerged in Kuala Lumpur. At that time, many demonstrators stormed the Indonesian Embassy building, tearing up photos of Soekarno. Not only that, some demonstrators also carried the national emblem of Garuda Pancasila to Malaysian Prime Minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman and forced him to step on Garuda. As a leader of a country, it is only natural that Soekarno was angry with Malaysia, "wrote Abraham Panumbangan in the book The Uncensored of Bung Karno: The Mystery of the Life of the President (2020).

Soekarno, who was very angry, finally made a movement called "Ganyang Malaysia". In his speech in Yogyakarta, Bung Karno also expressed his disappointment towards Malaysia through a speech with the same title as the movement that was built "Down with Malaysia." In that speech, he considered Malaysia as a bastard that the Indonesian nation had to brush off.

"Punch and brush, don't let our dirt and air trampled on by that bastard Malaysia. Pray for me, I will go to the battlefield as a patriot of the Nation, as a martyr of the Nation and as a bullet for the Nation that does not want to be trampled by its pride. to all corners of the country that we will unite to fight this humiliation. We will repay this treatment and we show that we still have strong teeth and we also still have dignity, "said Soekarno in his speech.

As an irresistible form of hatred for Malaysia, Soekarno had caught his disappointment at the US ambassador, Howard Jones. Bung Karno told Howard that he deeply regretted the attitude of a head of state who dared to trample the symbols of other countries.

However, Howard could not help Indonesia, even though he was known to be very sympathetic to Soekarno. This condition was exacerbated by the conflict in the middle of the Indonesian Army. In addition, General Ahmad Yani's statement that he would not direct troops to invade Malaysia.

Even so, Soekarno's obsession to destroy Malaysia was still on fire. This obsession has always been stirred up in every heart and soul of the Indonesian people from Sabang to Merauke. In fact, when his power continued to be stripped down by the Army after the September 30 Movement. Soekarno never gave up. Almost certainly in each of his speeches, Soekarno always touched on the politics of confrontation to keep morale up and at the same time ask for the support of the Indonesian people. Soekarno promoted two slogans at that time, namely "Forward, Don't Backward" and "This is my chest, where's your chest?"

Soekarno's actions as a revolutionary against Malaysia continued to surge, at least in the hearts of the majority of the Indonesian people. His prowess in the international political arena should not be doubted. That is why his wax figure is on display at the Madame Tussaud Museum in Amsterdam.

"Starting from the 1955 Asia-Africa conference, he then founded the non-aligned movement. Until finally the orator decided not to be active or leave the UN. He also enjoys confrontation. Its famous politics is Down with Malaysia as a protest against what he called neocolonialism in Sarawak. However, all these things make the people who become their worshipers completely carried away and forget their stomachs, "concluded Yopie Hidayat and Sandra Hamid in their writing in Tempo magazine entitled Only Two Berkharisma (1992).