DANGEROUS GAME: A group of Indonesian nationalists stopping a car in search of Malaysian nationals in Jakarta on Tuesday— AFP

Patriotic sentiments are being fanned in the archipelago, stirring up memories of the unruly passions that ran wild prior to the declaration of the 1960s Confrontation by Indonesia.

Even as the leaders of the two nations seek to rein in this hate campaign, there seems to be groundswell support for some sort of action to be taken against Malaysia.

There’s even a Facebook campaign titled “We Hate Malaysia”, which had rapidly gathered over 400,000 recruits (at Press time) to take on Malaysia — now rebranded Malingsia.

This echoes the call by President Sukarno back in the 60s, when he extolled his grand plan for the “Greater Malay State of Indonesia Raya”, where “all Malays in one region should come together”.

Just who is ultimately behind this anti-Malaysia hate campaign is still not clear.

The Indonesian media are reporting that there has been a lot of underlying resentment among the average Indonesian youth that has been fanned into flames by a controversial commercial promoting Malaysia which featured the Bali pendet dance — later found to be due to an innocent mistake by a foreign private producer.

In fact, some quarters have even wondered just why the Indonesian media is playing up this anti-Malaysia issue in relation to the pendet dance as it taps into the prevailing envy that many Indonesians already have against their perceived “richer brethren” in Malaysia.

However, the latest incident, which saw members of a self-declared pro-nationalist group Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (People’s Defence of Democracy or Bendera) organising a roadblock on Jalan Diponegoro in Central Java to “detain” Malaysians with sharpened bamboo stalks, has escalated the situation to a potentially dangerous one.

With anti-Malaysian sentiments brewing, these so-called nationalists have taken the opportunity to promote a move called Relawan Ganyang Malaysia which actively calls for volunteers to set up an “army to invade” Malaysia.

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Our checks revealed that some of these calls were made as early as June 4, shortly after the Ambalat issue came about. Located just off the Sabah coast, Indonesia and Malaysia are still in a protracted dispute over the oil-rich Ambalat block in the Sulawesi Sea.

Yesterday, Indonesian online news portal RMOnline (www.rakyatmerdeka.co.id) reported that many Indonesian graduates from multiple varsities there had made their way to the Bendera headquarters in Jalan Diponegoro 58, to register for the campaign.

It is learnt that to date, the campaign has claimed to garner the support of at least 400 volunteers.

The Jakarta Globe quoted Muchtar Bonaventura, who claimed to be the coordinator for Bendera, on the group’s vow to continue actions similar to the roadblock incident, and even expand the operation to seek offices and houses belonging to Malaysians.

On the other hand, the official Antara news agency reported that the country's Foreign Ministry deplores the sweeps against Malaysian citizens by Bendera.

“The Foreign Ministry condemns the action, which not only disrupts public order but also could damage Indonesia’s image in the eyes of the international community,” the ministry’s spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, had said.

The report also quoted Prof Dr Hikmahanto Juwanta of the University of Indonesia, saying that the Indonesian government must explain clearly to its people about the misunderstanding on Malaysia’s use of Indonesian cultural property.