Leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia have often claimed that their two countries are “blood brothers” anchored by the same racial and ethnic “stock” (serumpun). They share a similar language, culture and religion, and historically both countries have drawn on a common cultural heritage as a means of effectively managing any political tensions. Many colonial-era writers in the region identified the ‘Malay world’ as having an equally valid frame of reference as the nation. In the postcolonial era, authors such as Indonesia’s Pramoedya Ananta Toer have emphasised the popular notion of ‘Nusantara’, which refers to a trans-archipelagic ‘Malay World’.

Yet bilateral ties between these two nations have been, and remain today, subject to rivalry, acrimony and conflict. In 2009, for example, there were heated anti-Malaysia demonstrations in Indonesia after Malaysia claimed cultural heritage rights to a variety of Indonesian cultural forms. The staking of claims over each other’s culture came to a head when UNESCO recognised batik, a wax-resistant dyeing technique, as a distinctly Indonesian form of intangible cultural heritage. Two other issues dominated the local media during this period: the ongoing territorial dispute over Ambalat and the case of Manohara, a young Indonesian model fleeing her husband, a Malaysian prince. Can these bilateral spats be understood in isolation from broader political or human security issues? To answer this question, the history of Indonesia and Malaysia’s shared heritage will be examined, with an emphasis on the intersection between heritage and nationalism.

Dr. Marshall Clark is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Professional Practice in Heritage and the Arts (IPPHA), College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU.  He lectures on the politics, arts and cultural heritage of Southeast Asia. Marshall's PhD (2001) examined the close relationship between politics and literary activism in New Order Indonesia. His most recent book is Maskulinitas: Culture, Gender and Politics in Indonesia (2010) and at present he is completing a co-authored book on Indonesia’s relationship with Malaysia, to be published with Routledge.