Antiforeigner sentiment reaches fever pitch

Antiforeigner sentiment reaches fever pitch

By Todd Gregory

This is the first of two articles on Indonesians' attitude
toward foreigners.

JAKARTA (JP): The din of antiforeigner sentiment has reached
fever pitch in recent weeks, marked by an excess of emotion and
resentful rhetoric.

Many Indonesians have written thoughtful letters to The
Jakarta Post in recent months, some of which have expressed grave
concerns over the presence of westerners and other foreigners who
live, work and lay down roots in Indonesia.

While many of the letters are incisive and express legitimate
concerns, they also promulgate common misconceptions and
stereotypes about the expatriate community here.

It might surprise some Indonesian readers to learn the vast
majority of the expatriate community strongly supports the
Indonesian people in their quest for democracy and clean
governance.

And yet during this historic but terrible time, a time of
overwhelming need when Indonesia is becoming famous for all the
wrong reasons, it is both fascinating and sad to note that
material greed, political corruption -- being discussed openly at
long last -- immorality and racial divisiveness, cultural
attributes commonly ascribed by the East to the West, flourish in
Indonesia in equal or even greater measure.

Foreigners in Indonesia are observed as follows. Whether a
foreigner is a free-spending tourist or a law-abiding foreign
national, he is viewed by many as a corrupting influence or a
political subversive and is treated accordingly. If he is lucky
enough to fall in love with and marry an Indonesian citizen, he
may then find himself on the receiving end of threats, physical
confrontations, social ignorance and even scornful in-laws.

His spouse may be shunned or disowned by colleagues and former
"friends". Strangers may refer to his wife as a prostitute in his
presence. Harassment at the hands of petty local officials,
landlords, utility commissions and even banks is a common
occurrence.

If he happens to be in a taxi after midnight, he may get
pulled over by the police or a military sentry. If he is without
his passport or residency permit, he will be searched,
interrogated or threatened with imprisonment. He must then pay a
bribe as standard procedure before moving on.

If he decides to go abroad, he (and Indonesians as well, to be
fair) must pay a virtual king's ransom in airport fiscal taxes
(Rp 5 million if he is a foreigner fleeing from unrest, as
recently reported). He will then be subjected to the inevitable
harassment at the hands of the immigration office. He will be
threatened and often forced to pay money just to catch his plane
on time.

Foreigners are easy, convenient targets for practices like
extortion and price-gouging. To many Indonesians, foreigners are
something less than human, just verminous objects from whom to
extract money.

To many foreigners, these shadings of Indonesian culture are
not to be celebrated. Criminal acts, lying and deceit are just
that to foreigners, they are not the byproduct of some mystical
abstract of Indonesian culture. Present day Indonesia is
suffering from a disease of the spirit that is difficult to
endure and especially painful to observe.

During the recent tense months, as the government lamely
campaigned against "certain groups" in the misguided hope that
the public would direct its wrath at these targeted groups, many
foreigners chose or were forced to leave Indonesia.

Curiously, as foreign investment fled, the rupiah continued to
fizzle and the economy got worse, not better. Xenophobia and
scapegoating were counterproductive.

Now the government is attempting to foment anti-International
Monetary Fund (IMF) discord, the rationale here being that
foreign aid should be without limits or conditions.

Here is the conundrum: If the IMF fails to provide the
promised loans in full, the government stands ready to accuse the
international community of indifference or benign neglect. If the
money is given in full, as it surely will be on the condition
that a genuine effort at reform is finally undertaken, government
officials may accuse the IMF and its international sponsors of
neocolonialism.

Such an irresponsible charge was made by former president
Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo several months ago. So
whatever the final outcome, Indonesia can blame "wicked"
foreigners for the crisis and the current government can rant on
about "certain groups" who are conspiring to bring down
Indonesia.

But foreign money does not grow on trees -- it is real capital
plundered from a tax base comprised of real people. Indonesia's
obstinate refusal to implement reform and defiant ingratitude
have raised eyebrows the world over. Moreover, Indonesia is
always ready to receive foreign capital, loans and investment,
but it does not want the foreigners themselves. It's a
fascinating paradox.

Many Indonesians mistakenly believe that the Soeharto
government had the backing, tacit or otherwise, of the entire
international community. Nothing could be further from the truth.

While it is true that Soeharto enjoyed for a time the support
of the Bill Clinton-led White House, itself awash in monumental
corruption, the rival American political party and Congress were
steadfast in their opposition to the Soeharto regime.

Clinton's worm-eaten policies were a result of extremely
generous campaign contributions provided by Soeharto's banking
associates before the last American election cycle. It is common
knowledge that the influence of the Clinton White House, itself
becoming increasingly authoritarian, can be bought for the right
price. But this does not reflect the entire world community's
position on Indonesia, let alone America's.

The performance of some pampered, clueless publicity people
are offending the feeling of common people, as they are regaling
the media with mindless quips and living in ostentatious
splendor. Also annoying are foreign industries that pillage
Indonesia's resources and shamelessly pollute the environment,
contributing mightily to the world's second highest cancer rate
(after China) and despoiling a beautiful country in pursuit of
the almighty dollar.

The writer is a teacher at the American English Language
Training in East Jakarta.