See the other side of the coin

After reading both Rosaline's letters to the editor, I feel that I cannot let this subject pass without putting in my two cents worth. It is hard to believe that Rosaline lived in Australia for 15 years and did not learn that you can only be discriminated against if you allow yourself to be discriminated against, or that education or status is of no importance.

We are taught that we are all equal, and generally evaluate a person by their strength of character and what they have to offer their community and friends. Rosaline's term "bule" shows her own attitude toward foreigners, as we all know it is not the most pleasant label to give a foreigner.

As Rosaline found out in Australia, there is minimal discrimination against foreign people no matter what their background or purpose for living in Australia. There is minimal jealousy or fear of foreign people, if anything we welcome their different ways and hope that they can teach us something new. As a new resident, they are never told that they are a guest in the country and are all offered the same benefits accorded to all Australian citizens. Unlike in Indonesia, where we are continually told that we are guests and are not offered the same rights as Indonesian residents.

Living in Indonesia as a foreigner is not a road lined with gold as insinuated by Rosaline. A foreigner does not have access to the same legal rights, his immigration status is that of a visitor, having to update his residence and working permits yearly. Then to top that off, native Indonesians think foreigners are rich and successful, when in fact like everyone else they are just trying to make a living. Driving around Jakarta should confirm this, as I have rarely seen a foreigner in a BMW or Mercedes, which invariably are owned by affluent Indonesians.

A foreigner's personal life in Indonesia is spent trying to achieve privacy without much success, and his business life is spent trying to achieve professionalism within a culture that is suspicious of anything foreign. Hence, they are labeled as arrogant.

Yet we press on because Indonesia is a beautiful country offering foreigners' opportunities different from their own countries.

Rosaline, as an educated person, I hope that you are now able to see the other side of the coin and make a more balanced presentation of your experiences in Jakarta. To the teacher, I would have said, "Who pays your wages?" To the tenant who wanted to use the tennis court, I would have thought, "Have I been hogging the court?" If the answer was no, then I would have informed them when I would be finished. As to the water incident, I would wonder if they knew I was a tenant, and if not tell them I was a tenant and therefore was afforded the same rights as any other tenant. No great drama, end of subject.

MARGARETTE HASKELL

Bantul, Yogyakarta

Note: With this letter we close the debate on the subject of racism.

--Editor