The rivalry between the two ASEAN countries, Indonesia and Malaysia has been going on for years. In fact, the tense atmosphere between the two countries has started since the era of President Soekarno, the first president of Indonesia and Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister of Malaysia. There had been many factors which instigated the rivalry between the two countries, such as politics, border conflicts, Malaysian claiming of Indonesian cultural heritages, cruel treatment of Indonesian workers by Malaysian employers, Malaysian losing competitiveness in pop music and other popular culture, winning and losing in sports events between the national teams of the two countries, Malaysia exporting terrorist to make chaotic situation in Indonesia so that Indonesia will have bad image in the eyes of foreign investors and Malaysia will reap the benefit of being the final choice to invest because it has positive image as a stable and secure country, and et cetera. This rivalry is like a half-dormant volcano which can explode by any cause at any time.

In many cases, Malaysian side has taken an active role in instigating the turmoil. The most recent example of instigation is the use of racist advertisement by RoboVac Malaysia, a company selling robotic vacuums who banner advertising reads: 'Fire your Indonesian maid now' and buy RoboVac automatic vacuum cleaner. This advertisement is considered as an insult by Indonesian people and government. It emerged only a few days before President Jokowi's official visit to Malaysia. The advertisement has condemned in widespread anger with Malaysians in Indonesia and it becomes another justification for the accusation that Malaysians have always carefully created a problem to instigate friction with Indonesians. Indonesian government have always shown an older brother's attitude in dealing with conflict with Malaysians, an attitude that sometimes angers many Indonesians who can not take the insult lightly. They want Indonesian government to be sterner towards Malaysians and Malaysian government.

In any mutual relationship between two parties, both sides should have a responsibility to maintain the stability of the relationship if it is intended to last for a long time. You can not expect your partner to have a forgiving attitude forever towards your mischievous behavior that can harm the relationship. In the case of Indonesia and Malaysia relationship, Indonesians feel that they have been consistently hurt, tortured, and insulted by Malaysians. Indonesians have always been on the losing side in their conflict with Malaysians. In the border conflict years ago, Indonesia lost its Sipadan and Ligitan Islands. In terms of social status, Malaysians consider Indonesians as inferior people, stupid people that can only become their maids. That was the reason why they created a derogatory term "Indon" to refer to Indonesian people and used it in formal situation until it was protested by Indonesian Government in 2007. They had attempted to register many cultural heritages of Indonesia but failed because Indonesia protested. The news for Indonesian workers became the victims of domestic violence in Malaysia has been something very common. The harsh treatment on Indonesian workers by Malaysian employers in Malaysia has repeatedly instigated widespread anger among Indonesians. Indonesian government implemented a moratorium in sending workers in the informal sector for two years a few years ago because of ill-treatment on Indonesian workers by many Malaysian employers.

Possibly, Indonesians are needed as well as hated in Malaysia. They are needed because they are ready to do the jobs in the informal sectors that Malaysians may not like to do. Some Malaysians may not like them because the number of Indonesians in Malaysia is too big. They may be viewed as a threat by Malaysians. But, it is an undeniable fact that Malaysians need these workers. Malaysian economy will be adversely affected if all Indonesian workers suddenly resign and return to Indonesia. This fact is probably acknowledged by only a small portion of Malaysians. The reason why Indonesian workers are preferred by Malaysian employers is because the two nations have many things in common, such as common language, traditions, and possibly religion. Many Indonesians seek a job in Malaysia because job vacancy is abundant and the pay for the kind of job they do is much higher in Malaysia than it is in their own country. It seems that the tension of the relationship between the two nations will never recede without both sides are willing to correct their attitude and are willing to show respect for each other.