Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Serian, Malaysia
Although it was a bright clear day in Entekong, a town near the Indonesia-Malaysia border in West Kalimantan, people there did not look very sunny that Friday morning.
"Economic activities have been down since two or three years ago. We sell very little. Not many people stop by anymore, and we don't know whether we can continue the business or not," said Rita Suhartina, the owner of a small restaurant near the border gate.
Getting to Entekong, around 350 kilometers northeast of the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, from the capital was quite a difficulty, with the broken road forcing some cars to slow to a halt.
An owner of a small motel, Suparman, complained about the same problem, pointing to the empty rooms of the motel, with only two guests spending the night there in the last three nights.
"We don't know why. Maybe because fewer and fewer Indonesians are visiting Malaysia, and there are also less Malaysians coming to Indonesia," he said.
With visitor numbers dropping significantly, and those who depend on border traffic to make a living -- drivers, brokers and guides -- out of work, most of the residents of the small town and the surrounding villages have their attention focused on the other side of the border.
After passing through the border, and entering Malaysian territory, visitors can quickly see the striking difference between Entekong, which seems only like a group houses with no planning, and the nearest Malaysian town of Serian, around 40 kilometer from the border gate.
Unlike the Pontianak-Entekong route, the journey along the sealed, clean mountain highway from the border to Serian is a joy with the car reaching speeds of over 100 km per hour without difficulty, and breathtaking views of green jungle.
Alongside the road, farmers live in peace and prosperity within clean and tidy villages.
The small but clean town of Serian and the road to it really show that Malaysia has given fullest attention to its border territory; the government seems to be stressing the importance of prosperity for the people as the best defense against the influence coming from neighboring countries.
Serian, a subdistrict town, has been in better shape compared to Pontianak.
"We don't need many troops along our borders. What we need is jobs," said 20-year-old Ita Miranda, a widow with one daughter, about a series of military camps near the border.
Ita works in Serian as a maid for around 350 Malaysian ringgit (about Rp 1 million) per month. She has friends working as shop attendants or plantation workers who make as much as 800 ringgit per month.
In West Kalimantan in general, a maid will be paid Rp 250,000 per month while a shop attendant will get Rp 400,000, she said.
"My family and I will move to Malaysia if possible because of economic hardships in Indonesia. I am willing to become a Malaysian citizen," Ita said.
Many other Indonesians in the border areas will nod in agreement with Ita when asked the same question as all of them see the prosperity of their immediate neighbors.
The two countries' bilateral ties have been in the spotlight recently in connection with news that Malaysia has recruited Indonesian citizens to join the Askar Wathaniyah paramilitary force deployed to safeguard borders on the island.
Bilateral ties between the two countries have been rocky in the past few years following the Ambalat issue and abuse cases involving Indonesian migrant workers.
