The Indonesians are beating their war drums, with its bellicosity directed at Malaysia, its closest neighbour and so-called 'adik' (younger brother). At stake is the oil-rich continental shelf off the east coast of Sabah, where both nations have staked claims and awarded drilling rights to oil companies.

In Indonesia, right-wing groups have pledged their blood to defend every inch of the motherland and even threatened Malaysians studying there, suddenly ignoring both the Asean neighbourly spirit and the blood ties of Nusantara, the Malay world, so frequently acclaimed during good times.

It seems oil is thicker than blood.

Save for a few cooler heads, its media has joined in the jingoistic cry, as if directed by an Indonesian Goebbels. These rednecked war chants are not unlike wild creatures using urine to delineate ownership of operating domains.

The aggressive approach is obviously preferred to the diplomatic channels of civilised nations, especially ironic when both Indonesia and Malaysia are founding members of Asean. But perhaps the Indonesians lack confidence in the legitimacy of its claim, hence has resorted to the behaviour of the regional village thug.

The reasons have poured in to explain the Indonesian hostility towards Malaysia, not witnessed since Soekarno's Konfrontasi. Some attributed it to the government's attempt to divert public attention from growing domestic problems.

The universal formula for such an action requires an arch foe for the anger of a dissatisfied public to be channelled (or redirected) against. Malaysia has the dubious honour of being Indonesia's current nemesis.

Others said Indonesia is still smarting from the loss of Sipadan and Ligitan to Malaysia following the International Court of Jutsice's ruling, an antagonism further aggravated by Malaysia's recent expulsion of a large number of its citizens, illegally working here. It has 'lost face' that it cannot and does not want to lose anymore.

Then, of course, there is the wealth associated with the oil-rich region. There is nothing like an 'inheritance' (from Mother Earth) to split up 'brothers'.

While we hope the prime minister and Wisma Putra will succeed in a peaceful diplomatic settlement with the Indonesian authorities, we need to examine an area of concern now gravely accentuated by this recent Indonesian hostility.

The last few days we have heard moans and groans shamelessly from the construction and plantation industries and even the human resource minister, on how unnecessary procedures and unauthorised fee collecting on the Indonesian side have been causing delays in the return of expelled Indonesian workers to Malaysia.

We now need to reconsider seriously the wisdom of re-importing these considerable numbers of Indonesians into our country. What has hitherto been a socially disruptive factor - allegedly contributing to increased crime rates - has now metamorphosed into a potential national security problem.

It would be foolish to permit citizens of a potentially hostile country to enter and reside here in large numbers. They may eventually prove to be our complete undoing - security wise.

We ought to remember the situation during the periods leading to the last War as well as the Indonesian Confrontation of the 1960s. There were respectively Japanese businessmen, and Indonesians and their sympathisers here, who acted against Malaya/Malaysia's national interest.

There are alternative sources for plantation and construction workers from Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines. Let's recruit them from these countries rather than facilitate the entry of potential fifth columnists.