Selective policy, selective prejudice<\/p>\n
I am writing in reference to the article Legally yours: Legal
\naspects of marrying out in the Nov. 5 edition of The Jakarta
\nPost. As an Indonesian woman married to a foreigner I am
\nconcerned about and discriminated against by the unjust and self-
\nrighteous policy which is applied to mixed marriages in
\nIndonesia. I am necessarily a victim of this policy's results,
\nlike hundreds of thousands of other indigenous women who live
\nwith their foreign husbands in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
While Director General of Immigration M. Mudakir and other
\nimmigration officials contend this so-called \"selective
\npolicy\" is in line with the government's view of the husband as
\nthe breadwinner of the family, this never can justify Indonesia's
\ndiscriminatory laws and regulations concerning cross-cultural
\nmarriages.<\/p>\n
It makes this policy rather more questionable, especially in
\nrespect of its contribution to the benefit of our country and its
\npeople. If we really want to understand why this selective policy
\nstill persists in Indonesia, we simply have to ask the following
\nquestions: Who are the real winners and beneficiaries in
\nupholding this obviously discriminatory policy against women? Who
\nbenefits most from this policy? Is it really the poor people
\nof our country?<\/p>\n
Readers may answer these questions by themselves. My husband,
\nan academic, is retired and lives on a pension. He built our
\nhouse here with his own money and he bears all the costs of our
\nlivelihood by taking good care of his family. He even supports my
\nparents and some of my poor relatives, through his own goodwill
\nand as best he can. By building our house my husband gave work to
\nabout 40 indigenous people for a period of 18 months; so he kept
\nalive about 40 families with his money. He pays the wages of our
\npembantu (servants) and keeps alive their families by doing so.<\/p>\n
But my husband has to bear all the costs for going out to
\nSingapore every six months to renew his social visa, and he also
\npays the unjustifiably high immigration fees for its monthly
\nextension. The amount of money my husband has to pay for
\nextending his visa only for one month would keep alive an average
\nindigenous family for the same period of time.<\/p>\n
And he is not alone in doing so. Hundreds of thousands of
\nforeigners who live in our country and are married to Indonesian
\nwomen are forced to do the same. They all are forced by our laws
\nand the selective policy to bear the same fate. All those
\nforeigners are considered and misused as the cash cows of our
\nnation -- and so are their wives and so are their children.<\/p>\n
Even if the government has to take care of 202 million people,
\nas Mr. Mudakir's colleague Harsono Widodo said, I have the innate
\nright to request from you, Mr. Widodo, and from our government as
\nwell, that it acknowledge and respect that I am also one of these
\n202 million. And there are some hundreds of thousands out there,
\nMr. Widodo, who are Indonesians, like you, but who happen to be
\nmarried to foreigners. The only person who is taking care of me
\nand my family, like thousands of my fellow Indonesians, is my
\nforeign husband -- and not the government or immigration with its
\nselective policy.<\/p>\n
What Indonesian women married to foreigners really need and
\ndeserve as human beings are contemporary modern laws which
\nprovide fair and human conditions for them and their families.
\nThese laws should not only respect our very personal decision
\nabout our choice of a marriage partner, but should not
\ndiscriminate against us for our decision.<\/p>\n
I want to express my thanks to Mrs. Nursyahbani and all other
\nenlightened Indonesian lawyers who share her view. These people
\nhave realized and spoken out about the fact that the current laws
\nconcerning cross-cultural marriages, directly or indirectly, are
\nsexist and discriminatory.<\/p>\n
KETUT ARIANIK<\/p>\n
Denpasar, Bali<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/selective-policy-selective-prejudice-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }