The backlash followed remarks by Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian in a podcast clip published on Saturday, which later went viral, in which he said that the medical supplies delivered from Malaysia were worth less than 1 billion Indonesian rupiah (US$60,000) and were “not much” compared with Indonesia’s own disaster-response resources.
“Our budget and deployment are far larger than that,” Tito said on the Suara Lokal Mengglobal (Local Voices Go Global) podcast. “So it should not create the narrative that we need help from another country.”
In Malaysia, the remarks touched a nerve. The country’s relationship with Indonesia is friendly but prickly, with old grievances over haze, migrant labour issues and cultural claims never far from the surface.
“Humanitarian aid exists to help ease the situation by providing relief and support, not to fix everything,” wrote Malaysian social media user “IzzraifHarz”.
“It’s unfair to compare your duty to take care of your people with our small aid. Yes, it’s ‘not much’ but it serves its purpose.”
In the same interview, Tito noted that Jakarta had mobilised billions of rupiah in funding since the disaster began in late November, along with helicopters, rescue teams, police and other agencies operating across 52 affected districts and cities in northern Sumatra.
Is it so hard for him to just say thank you?