More on mixed marriage

It was rather puzzling to read the comment of Dewi Anggraeni (The Jakarta Post, April 18, 2000) on the article titled Discrimination and mixed marriages written by Martin Jenkins on April 14, 2000.

To my opinion, the article is not about whether Indonesia is an immigrant receiving country or not. The issue raised in the article is a clear discrimination against Indonesian women. Ms. Anggraeni may also read the letter from Ms. Elis Suminar (April 7, 2000) to see how the implementation of the discriminating immigration policy has resulted in outrageous inhuman acts. I learned about a year ago that Indonesian law truly differentiates the marriage of an Indonesian woman to a foreign man to an Indonesian man to a foreign woman.

Mr. Jenkins, again in my opinion, did not mean to be insensitive toward prostitutes. Rather, he is trying to show us that in fact Indonesian law implicates its favor to an unmarried couple than the married counterpart. Furthermore, this article is certainly not about the social stigma an Indonesian woman who is married to a foreign man has to endure, but the burden of the law that positions her even worse than a prostitute.

After almost 12 years of living abroad, I decided to live in Indonesia and my foreign husband has agreed to follow me. With the kind help of many people, I have been trying for more than one year to obtain a resident permit for my dear husband before his arrival to join me in Bandung in January 2000. The attempt failed and he arrived with a social-cultural visa. Now he has to renew his visa every month for a maximum six-month stay in Indonesia. With this visa, he can not work voluntarily, even without a salary, which he would very much like to do. I believe that he could make a nice contribution to my country while occupying his time accompanying his wife.

For us, it is not a matter of money but rather that the law completely disregards the fact that we are a married couple. Moreover, I feel terribly discriminated against as the foreign wife of my colleague is treated far better than my husband in regards to the ease of staying in this country. I would like to thank Ms. Elis Suminar for bringing up the issue and to show that the application of Indonesian law has resulted in a gross violation of humanity. Still, I have a big hope that the current government, in the spirit of reform, is going to change the immigration policy. I believe I just have to wait a little bit longer.

ANDONOWATI

Bandung