ONLY seconds remained in the gold medal match of the pencak silat martial arts event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang.
Competition favourite, Mohd Al-Jufferi Jamari from Malaysia, found himself unexpectedly trailing 1-4 to Komang Harik Adi Putra, the Indonesian fighter.
Instead of seeing the fight to the end, world champion Al-Jufferi emotionally decided to storm out, venting his frustration and anger over what he regarded as biased and unfair judging
On the spur of the moment, the dejected Al-Jufferi punched a hole in the wall of the warm-up area in the arena.
This is a story of two neighbouring nations which share many traits and characteristics, but are the fiercest of rivals on the sporting front.
The narrative that comes out out of almost every sporting encounter involving Malaysia and Indonesia is rather identical.
It can be described as intense, passionate and emotional.
Malaysians and Indonesians simply love their sports. The development of modern sports in both countries began during the colonial era, when Malaya was a British colony and Indonesia, at the time known as Dutch East Indies, was under Dutch state rule.
Over the years, sports like football, badminton, athletics and basketball have become popular in both countries.
In term of sporting success, Indonesia fares better than Malaysia at the international level. To date, Indonesia has won seven summer Olympic gold medals, with the entire haul coming from badminton.
As for Malaysia, the quest for its maiden Olympic gold medal continues in Tokyo 2020.
Football remains the sport that has the most following in the two countries. Malaysian teams have twice qualified for the Olympics, in 1972 and 1980. Indonesia, during the Dutch East Indies era, made an appearance in the 1938 Fifa World Cup in France.
Despite dismal showings of late, both Malaysia and Indonesia boast huge and passionate football fan bases. Clashes between the two football-mad nations usually occur at regional-level competitions like the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship and the Southeast Asian Games and are highly anticipated by many with national pride at stake.
Last year, Indonesia hosted the 2018 AFF U19 Championship, a youth-level football tournament.
In the semi-final draw, old foes Indonesia and Malaysia were pitted against each other. The match ended 1-1 after extra time, needing a penalty shootout to determine the winner. Malaysian eventually triumphed 3-2.
The match itself was dramatic, but the aftermath was shambolic. Angry and disappointed with the match outcome, Indonesian fans at the stadium attacked the Malaysian team with stones and bottles. The Malaysians had to flee for safety.
As scholar Marshall Clark described, Malaysia and Indonesia have a longstanding love-hate relationship. Sports aside, the rivalry between the two cuts across different domains, including politics, economy, culture and arts. One needs to unpack the historical stages of the two nations to understand the root of Malaysia-Indonesia relations and perhaps, the reasons behind their intense sports rivalry.
We must bear in mind that long before the colonial era and the subsequent creation of Indonesia in 1945 and then Malaysia in 1963, the Malay peninsula, which comprised present-day southern Thailand and Sumatra, had already become part of the Nusantara. They were bonded by religion, language, intermarriage, culture, heritage and trade.
The geographical markers that make up present-day Malaysia and Indonesia are the inheritance of colonialism. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 was signed to divide territories, and more importantly to serve political and economic gains to the colonial powers. This, according to Frederik Holst, had significantly severed the traditional structures and ties among people of the Nusantara. The British and the Dutch imposed their hegemonic powers differently and this influenced the social structure, political situation and economic growth in Malaya and Indonesia.
While Indonesia had to resist and rebel to force its way to independence, Malaya held negotiations in a peaceful manner. Indonesia then went through a period of political turmoil. There was also dissatisfaction over the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, which president Sukarno’s government believed to be a product of neocolonisation.
This led to hostility between both countries and subsequently the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation in 1963.
Although relations between the two nations have improved by leaps and bounds after the Indonesian New Order came into power, and both countries are on generally good diplomatic terms, to this day the neighbours still find themselves embroiled in a number of issues related to border disputes and culture.
The confrontation era might have long passed, but the animosity surrounding sporting events involving the two neighbours remains. The anti-Malaysia sentiment is often played up, making every sporting encounter a crunch one. Social media is buz-zing, too, with fans from both sides battering each other. It is not all bad though, especially for sports organisers, as the hype is what they need to sell the events.
After all, the hostility surrounding sporting events involving Malaysia and Indonesia is expected. Considering the historical narrative and how both nations are closely related through shared similarities and values, it is only natural that fierce rivalry will take place and continue to be the way it is.
Dr Nurzali Ismail is the dean of the school of communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia