The need for a great city in the east

 

Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara is set to open in East Kalimantan in 2024. From the moment it was conceptualised, Nusantara has captured the imagination of not only the Indonesians but the entire region.

Jakarta, the city being replaced as Indonesia’s capital, is already a major metropolis with a population of almost 11 million. If Nusantara becomes even one-fifth the size of Jakarta, it will have at least two million inhabitants.

But size alone will not be Nusantara’s strength. As it makes its presence felt in Borneo, its prestige and stature might inject new energy into existing Indonesian cities on the giant island.

Many Malaysians might not have even heard of such Indonesian cities as Samarinda, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin or Pontianak today, but that might change when Nusantara lends its weight to Kalimantan, the Indonesian half of Borneo.

If Nusantara becomes a centre that networks all of these cities together, we are likely going to have in the not-too-distant future a very different impression of Indonesian Borneo than we have now.

While we wish our friends in Indonesia the best, it will also perhaps be best for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Nusantara, so that we may welcome and appreciate the good fortune of Indonesia with an open heart.

To do so, we have to see to it that the rise of Nusantara will also benefit us, or at least, not cause us any loss. To benefit from the rise of Nusantara, and not suffer any loss, it might be time for us to start thinking about having a city in the east that can serve as our garrison to Kalimantan in East Malaysia.

Currently, we already have a city that serves as our garrison in the South of the peninsula in the form of Johor Bahru (JB).

Ads by Kiosked

It is because JB serves as our garrison in the south, that we are able to reap the economic benefit of having a great neighbouring city like Singapore, while at the same time balancing the influence that it has on our shores.

If JB did not exist, not only will we not have reaped the full economic benefits of having a city like Singapore as our neighbour, it might be the case that the population of the south of the peninsula – perhaps from the tip of Johor all the way up to Melaka – might be more influenced by Singapore than the rest of Malaysia.

Without a garrison city like JB complementing Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya in the south, we cannot be certain that someone from Muar or Batu Pahat will feel more connected with someone from Ipoh or Alor Setar than with someone from Singapore.

I am not suggesting that great cities like Singapore or Nusantara will deliberately attempt to exert an economic, social or political influence on our shores. I am just saying that it is the nature of small things to gravitate around great things. Without the earth, even the moon would have likely gravitated around the sun.

We need a city of our own in the east, that will keep east Malaysia orbiting around it instead of Nusantara, in the same way, that the earth keeps the moon orbiting around it instead of the sun.

Currently, the biggest city in our part of Borneo is Kuching, with a population of less than 700,000. The next biggest is Kota Kinabalu, which has a population that is a little shy of half a million. These cities might be too small to prevent the east from gravitating around Nusantara. We either need to bolster their size or create a whole new city in the east.

While Sabah and Sarawak are to us family, we cannot take our relationship for granted. Even siblings will quarrel and split the family if they don’t feel that they have gotten their proper due.

While Indonesia is indeed a friend and a neighbour, let us also not tempt Indonesia to part our brothers and sisters away from us. Let us not have a case where our brothers and sisters in the east, not feeling that they have a rightful place in our family, be enamoured by a great city, whose culture and tradition it shares a lot of similarities with.

The creation of a new city in either Sabah or Sarawak, will not only secure the east within the federation, but it might also assuage the dissatisfaction that a number of Sabahans and Sarawakians hold against the federation.

Currently, the peninsula has two federal territories in the form of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, while the east only has Labuan.

Not only does the peninsula have more federal territories than East Malaysia, in terms of stature and prestige, but Labuan is also nowhere close to the prestige and stature of Putrajaya or Kuala Lumpur.

Perhaps it is time to create a city in the east, not only in anticipation of a revitalised Indonesia in Borneo but to re-balance the relationship between east and west Malaysia.

Ads by Kiosked

These are uncertain times for the federation. In less than five years, we have had four prime ministers. One of our ex-prime ministers was sent to jail last year while another has been charged in court this year. This kind of track record does not bode well for the future of any nation.

With so much uncertainty in our future, let us at least do what we must to secure our past.

Building a new city in the east might be what we need to do to secure the continued existence of the federation that has become our home since 1963. Who knows, perhaps it is in securing our past that a pathway to a future might be found. Building a new city in the east might not only secure our past, but it might also show us a new way to the future. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.