Bound by history, culture, religion and kinship

Abstract

ABSTRACT Most studies of Indonesia-Malaysia relations focus on conflict. This study analyses the depictions of Malaya in a renowned bi-weekly Islamic magazine in Indonesia in 1960, Pandji Masjarakat. The findings indicate that the magazine constructed positive perceptions of Malaya and encouraged its readers to adopt them. It promoted an understanding that Indonesia and Malaya had a long common history, and in the past were tied by religious, kinship and cultural bonds. It emphasised that Islam played an important role as a unifying factor among regions in the Malay world before the colonial era. It saw Malay culture, especially the Malay language, as a shared legacy of both countries that had been marginalised by European colonialism. The magazine motivated linguists and people from both countries to rejuvenate the language for modern use. Of no less importance was the key actor in the magazine’s constructive approach to Malaya, its chief editor, Hamka, who was personally connected to the Malay world. This research sheds light on the Indonesian press’ attempts to promote similarities and cooperation rather than differences and dispute between the two countries in the context of postcolonial Southeast Asia.