RI remains

RI remains
anti-foreigner

This is a reply to your article Investors or retired people?
published in The Jakarta Post on June 9.

After reading the indignant reaction to a suggestion that
Indonesia let elderly foreigners retire in Indonesia, I think
there may be some short-sightedness when looking at issues
concerning immigration, investment, etc. Clearly both threats and
benefits exist and those may be different for different layers of
society.

A few decades ago in Europe, Spain used to be among the
poorest backwaters. Then Spain opened up and many well-off
Europeans went to retire there, bringing lots of capital, buying
houses and creating work in the local services and Small and
Medium-sized Businesses (SMB) industries. As a result, more
investments were made, both by locals and foreigners in larger
industries like banking, building, transportation, retail etc.

At the same time, many studies have shown that an SMB base is
vital for economic growth and as a foundation for other
industries. Now the question becomes: Is that a type of scenario
that Indonesians would want? The answer is no. They want "big"
investors because the elite classes want to become managers and
directors -- if possible in several companies at the same time.

Perhaps the answer would be different when asked to the
underprivileged and poor Indonesians? Please wake up to reality.
Real "big" investors aren't charitable organizations. The type of
big business Indonesia is targeting would rather go to China or
Vietnam where wages are lower and the cost of doing business is
also lower because there is less profiteering. These investors
care about know-how, experience and efficiency when it comes to
managerial functions, but most of all about profit. At best, they
provide many low-paying jobs and very few other jobs.

Then what about the large high-tech multinationals? IT
companies for instance? I read that there was some interest in
Microsoft opening a large site in Indonesia. Forgive me for my
skepticism, and I hope that I am mistaken, but I fear this is
mainly a PR stunt because the government wants to look good and
Microsoft wants to get some money out of the countless pirated
copies of their software.

My experience with those type of "Centers Of Excellence" in IT
is that they are usually bustling dynamic places populated by
people of different nationalities, of different ethnic groups and
religions, with the most diverse backgrounds that strive to reach
open-mindedness, creativity and healthy competition.

Indonesia is inward-looking, anti-foreigner and anti-
immigration. That is in a way understandable when looking at its
history. But even after so many decades since independence,
Indonesia does everything to make foreigners unwelcome -- even
those with Indonesian families or of Indonesian descent.

Of course, the Indonesians with a voice don't like elderly
bules (or expatriates) sitting on their buttocks in their
paradise with several servants and drivers to take care of them.
That probably reminds them of colonial times. And isn't that the
privilege of the Indonesian elites after all?

LESLIE GOODMAN
Zaventem, Belgium