Marriage tax outrageous<\/p>\n
Dian Sasmita, Bogor<\/p>\n
Four years ago, Gadjah Mada University economist Revrisond
\nBaswier surprised the public with a proposal that the Ministry of
\nFinance slap a heavy tax on marriages involving celebrities in
\nIndonesia in order to discourage them from seeking divorce too
\neasily.<\/p>\n
The high divorce rate among celebrities in Indonesia motivated
\nhim to make the proposal, but it was taken as a joke rather than
\na serious proposition by a permissive public for whom marriage
\nhas lost its sacred meaning.<\/p>\n
Now, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Indonesian Ulema
\nCouncil (MUI) are to forward a draft bill to parliament aiming to
\nprevent Indonesian Muslim women from being divorced too easily by
\nforeigners.<\/p>\n
If passed into law, it would prevent foreigners from marrying
\nIndonesian Muslim women unless they put up what looks like
\n\"collateral\" of Rp 500 million, so that if their husbands ever
\ndivorce the woman they would \"win\" that amount of money to live
\non.<\/p>\n
Many observers have difficulty understanding the motivation
\nbehind this draft bill, and indeed there are many questions to be
\nasked regarding this particular legislative endeavor.<\/p>\n
First, if a foreigner pays Rp 500 million to a woman he
\ndivorces, what about those millions of Indonesian men who have
\ndivorced their wives? Will there be a law regulating them to
\nprovide the same amount to their former wives?<\/p>\n
In other words, if it is a matter of providing some kind of
\nfinancial security to Indonesian divorcees, why do we require
\nonly foreign men to take such a degree of responsibility, while
\nignoring the fact that there are a far greater number of
\nIndonesians who have divorced their wives?<\/p>\n
Second, setting that kind of \"price tag\" suggests that we are
\nselling our women to foreigners as if they were commodities in
\nneed of foreign buyers. The collateral to be paid before tying
\nthe knot would turn marriage into a business contract rather than
\na holy institution. And nobody believes that a foreign man in his
\nright mind would waste half a billion rupiah on a contract of
\nthis kind.<\/p>\n
Third, if the real aim is to provide financial security to
\ndivorced women, why start with women who marry foreigners? This
\ncategory of women are mainly from the middle- and upper-classes
\nincluding celebrities who do not desperately need financial
\nsupport.<\/p>\n
Divorced women who do desperately need financial security are
\nfrom the lower economic classes, some of whom have been forced
\ninto prostitution to support themselves. They have been
\nneglected, but the (Indonesian) men who divorced them are not
\nbeing required to pay huge sums of money like that being required
\nof foreigners in this new draft bill!<\/p>\n
Fourth, if it is a law, then it must apply to all citizens and
\nresidents alike and must not apply only to believers of a certain
\nreligion. But even so, why has the draft bill originated from
\nthe MUI and not the Indonesian Inter-Religious Dialog Forum?<\/p>\n
Also, what about Indonesian women who marry foreigners abroad
\nand bring them home? Likewise, would this attempt not encourage
\nIndonesian women and foreign men to get married abroad instead of
\nat home? And again, would this law apply retroactively -- for the
\nsake of fairness?<\/p>\n
There are so many more questions of this kind, and it is
\nunbelievable that the government is even contemplating getting
\nparliamentary approval for such a daft proposal.<\/p>\n
But let's approach this with a cool head and without pretense.
\nThe real remedy is not the draft bill nor any other strange law.
\nYou can never prevent divorces using laws because it is also part
\nof human rights, namely the right of self determination and
\nprivacy.<\/p>\n
What religious leaders should do is not to go to the
\nlegislature but rather return to their respective communities and
\npromote moral standards. Why? Because divorces only happen to
\npeople who were not supposed to have got married in the first
\nplace.<\/p>\n
If it is too easy to get a religious seal on a marriage, then
\nit will be just as easy for people to get a divorce.<\/p>\n
A greater disaster could emerge from the nation's inability to
\ncurtail pornography than from this narrow domain of celebrities
\nmarrying or divorcing foreign husbands.<\/p>\n
Why not take real action now to curb the spread of pornography
\n-- if that is what we aim to achieve -- rather than wasting
\nenergy bickering over couples getting married or divorced?<\/p>\n
And if it is true that the government really cares about
\ndivorcees, why not start by giving jobs to the countless number
\nof hopeless women being employed against their will at so many
\nplaces of ill-repute across the country?<\/p>\n
The writer is manager of Avicam Entertainment, Bogor, West
\nJava, and can be reached at nanasmita@yahoo.com.<\/p>",
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