Two Sun over One Firmament Culture: A Political-Communication Analysis on the Contestation of Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur over “Indonesian Malay Communities”

Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: evieasd@gmail.com, evie@unpad.ac.id

Abstract

This paper tries to extent a personal experience on an interesting discussion concerning the communication issues in Medan, North Sumatra. There is the inclination of the North Sumatrans to the news broadcasted by Kuala Lumpur and Medan’s tends to identify with its cultural similarities. For Jakarta is officially the center of political authority over the ‘Indonesian Malay Communities’, this dual cultural loyalty creates an imaginary phenomenon: ‘Two Suns’ in term of authoritative news resources that applies upon ‘One Firmament Culture’. This means that there is a divided news orientation among the Indonesian Malay Communities’ that put Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur in a tacit contestation. While until today this kind of contestation is still going on, the same features have brought me to the phenomenon of hierarchical communication structure. This vividly seen when we realize how lopsided is in nature the communication relations between the global authorities who have controlled the strategic means of communications as well as their contents with the rest of the world. For, in exception to technological matters, the Kuala Lumpurinclined of ‘the Indonesian Malay Communities’ in communication practices is based more on cultural aspects than their technical and political necessities words.