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He said the mass media, whether in Malaysia or Indonesia, should play a positive
role in helping to resolve whatever crisis that might crop up between the two
countries from time to time.
<p>"Never create public prejudice that can affect relations between the two
countries," he said when delivering his keynote address at the discussion
"The 50-Year Dynamics of Indonesia-Malaysia Diplomatic Relations",
here today.</p>
<p>Expressing disappointment, he said he could not understand why the Indonesian
mass media were actively reporting incidents which only involved 0.0001 per
cent of the Indonesian manpower (TKI) such as abuse and raids against illegal
immigrants and deportation.</p>
<p>"The positive aspects of the successes of the majority of TKI who entered
Malaysia legally to eke a living and contribute to the Indonesian economic growth,
and the fine treatment of Indonesian housemaids by their Malaysian employers
who considered them as part of the family were not reported to the extent that
the Indonesian people had a negative perception of the Malaysian employers."</p>
<p>Zainuddin, a former journalist and editor-in-chief of a leading Malaysian newspaper,
said he also failed to understand why immediate disaster relief assistance provided
by Malaysia to Indonesia did not attract the republic’s media attention while
a small contribution by other neighbouring countries received wide coverage.</p>
<p>"I don’t blame the Indonesian mass media for playing up news on the TKI
because Malaysians too hated and were against employers who ill-treated their
(foreign) workers, but the news should be balanced with the action taken by
the Malaysian government against those who committed cruelty," he said.</p>
<p>He said he also welcomed news on the delays and slow handling of abuse cases
against TKI by the Malaysian courts.</p>
<p>"Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and even the
Malaysian cabinet are deeply concerned and want the delays in the settlement
of such cases to be resolved by the courts immediately," he said at the
discussion held at the Padjajaran University here.</p>
<p>Speaking before scores of local journalists and intellectuals, he reminded
them that without self-resilience, the leaders and mass media would easily be
used as tools by certain quarters who wanted to spoil the good relationship
between Malaysia and Indonesia.</p>
<p>Zainuddin also gave various statistics which showed that relations between
the two countries were at its peak which should provide positive news that could
further strengthen future diplomatic relations which had been established for
50 years.</p>
<p>Among the statistics were that 1.3 million Indonesian tourists had visited
Malaysia and almost 600,000 Malaysian tourists had visited Indonesia last year,
14,000 Indonesian students were pursuing studies at institutions of higher learning
in Malaysia, billions of ringgit were sent home by TKI and that Malaysia was
the biggest investor in Indonesia with investments worth US$2.6 billion in 2006.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno, in
his speech, said that the numerous considerations and positive action by the
Malaysian government should draw the attention of the Indonesian mass media
in their news coverage.</p>
<p>"The Malaysian government is the only one that is prepared to provide
access and schooling facilities to the tens of thousands of TKI children, including
34,000 children of estate workers in the Malaysian interior areas and accommodate
1.2 million legal TKI and a similar number of illegal TKI," he said.</p>
<p>– BERNAMA</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=270565</i>
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