As immediate neighbours, Indonesia and Malaysia often have a love-hate relationship as demonstrated by their ongoing territorial and 'cultural' disputes.

Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have been negotiating on the overlapping claims to the oil-rich Ambalat Block in East Kalimantan waters.

More recently, dozens of Balinese artists in Denpasar, Bali staged a demonstration in protest of a Malaysian tourism advertisement featuring the Balinese 'pendet' dance.