What do people say about living abroad?

What do people say about living abroad?

JAKARTA (JP): Most people are born, grow up and die in the
same country, many never even visiting the lands of a foreign
culture. But a surprisingly large number of people immigrate to
live a significant portion of their lives in a foreign country
for one reason or another. These migrants must face the life of
being a minority, sometimes vulnerable to discrimination.

Erwin Sasmito, a 35-year-old Canadian, says the attitudes of
Canadians toward immigrants have changed a lot compared to when
he and his Indonesian family moved there in 1976.

"I sense a lot of positiveness, although there are still some
who are narrow-minded and mistreat immigrants. The topic of
immigration in Canada always leads to so many different arguments
and opinions," says Erwin, who now works in a bank in Toronto.

"Canada is not a melting-pot like neighboring America. The
difference is that in Canadian society, people tend to keep their
heritage and culture and expect others to respect each other in
that way," he says.

"In the United States, ethnic traditions, culture and heritage
melt into one, which, in my opinion, is an aspect of the American
way.

"Compare New York with Toronto. In Toronto, there is an air of
pride among the diverse cultures that are frequently celebrated.
But Canada might still become a melting-pot. It is a relatively
new country and the majority of new immigrants probably go as far
as maybe two generations.

"The new generation (youths) stemming from this has integrated
with the general society, which is already diverse, and this is
where culture and traditions etc. tend to disappear," Erwin says.

As a son of an Indonesian diplomat, Erwin was no stranger to
living in foreign countries when he came to Canada. The family
decided to settle in Canada after his father ended his term at
the Indonesian Embassy in Ottawa.

But Erwin, who is a bachelor, misses his former country.

"After being abroad for so long, I begin to question Western
values. Now I find that I might have peace of mind if I moved
back home where Eastern values have more meaning to my life. The
simplicity back home is much more beautiful than the techno
complexity here in the West.

"If it came down to standard of living and freedom of speech,
I would choose to live in a country like Canada. If it came down
to community, morals and staying out of big capitalist hypocrisy,
I would choose Indonesia," he concludes.

Nina, 35, has been living in Canberra for two years and says
Asians sometimes get negative feedback from some people in the
Australian community.

"It sometimes seems that they have a prejudice against us even
before they get to know us," she complains.

Nina, who left Indonesia to live with her Australian husband,
has a public relations degree and is now self-employed in the
photography field.

There is only one mosque in Canberra, located on the grounds
of the Egyptian Embassy, and it is far from her house.

"I'm not really supported in the practice of my religion in
the same way as I would be in Indonesia," she says.

Her other problem is clothing.

"I often need to buy clothes from Indonesia because it is hard
to find things that fit me since I'm much smaller than Australian
standard sizes."

But she enjoys living in Canberra because of its healthy
environment.

"I am happy in my new country. I feel more healthy and safe."

Budi Susilo, a Sydney resident, decided to leave heavily
polluted Jakarta for Australia 10 years ago because his second
child, who was then 5 years old, had medical problems.

A former manager at the Gramedia Group, Budi is now a shoe and
bag trader, and operates his own travel agency.

Budi found it very hard to adjust to his new environment at
first.

"Now, we have no problems. There's lots of Indonesian food
here. We can easily get information about Indonesia from The
Jakarta Post, which I get directly from Jakarta, and from the
television and the Internet. If we miss our friends, we just call
them."

Budi says his family speaks Indonesian at home. "But now my
children are starting to have problems speaking Indonesian."

Anton left Indonesia for New Zealand in 1981 to take a short
course in English. After finishing the course, he went to Sydney
to sightsee. But he has been there much longer than the average
tourist: 11 years.

He decided to stay when he found out that he could earn a good
living there. Luckily, he landed a job at a Kentucky Fried
Chicken outlet -- not as a dishwasher, but as a manager, thanks
to his good English and good communication skills (he had worked
as a detailman for a pharmaceutical firm before leaving for New
Zealand). Anton is also computer literate, which later helped him
get a job as a management information system manager at an
automobile manufacturing company.

"What I like best about Australia is that everything seems to
be in order, no corruption. The people are disciplined, they're
willing to queue, not like what happens here.

"But Australians are individualists," says Anton, who was born
into a Chinese-Indonesian family in a small Central Java town.

Asked what he misses most about Indonesia, he replies: "I love
eating noodles on the roadside ... and that, you can't do in
Australia. They don't allow such food stalls for hygienic
reasons."

Then a permanent resident of Sydney, Anton married an
Australian school teacher in 1987 and returned to Indonesia six
years later. "Australia was hit by recession. I got a job offer
in a computer company in Jakarta, and an international school
hired my wife. After all, all of my (extended) family is in
Indonesia."

Anton still has his Indonesian citizenship and does not have
any plans to give it up. But he said he might go back to
Australia to provide his daughter with a better education.

He does not worry about being a minority. "Pauline Hanson
doesn't like Asians as a group, but she doesn't hate Asians as
individuals. Well, some Australians are xenophobic, there are the
skinheads and the neo-Nazis. But what happens there is not as bad
as the discrimination against Chinese-Indonesians here."

Nirwan Idrus, an Australian of Indonesian origin, is confident
that Australians are not so naive about Hanson's policies.

"Yes, there are problems with employment, there are problems
with the Australian economy, partly as a result of the problems
in the Asian economy, but everybody can see that the arrival of
Asian migrants has created and not taken away jobs from
Australians," he says.

"I believe those who have those fears ... are people who are
not confident about themselves. Similarly, those who feel
discriminated against are also those who do not have self-
confidence. I am a living example of the fair system in Australia
and New Zealand."

Nirwan, a consultant in higher education, is a chartered
professional engineer who has held senior positions in industry,
government and higher education organizations in Australia, Papua
New Guinea and New Zealand.

Nirwan's father, Idrus, was a leading writer of prose in the
early years of Indonesian independence.

In 1961, when Nirwan was 12 years old, Idrus and his family
left Indonesia because the political situation then was no longer
conducive to his creative writing -- his works were considered
antigovernment.

They first moved to Malaya, where Nirwan's parents set up a
publishing company. In March 1965, Idrus was appointed a lecturer
in Modern Indonesian Literature at the newly established Monash
University in Melbourne. Given their financial situation, it was
not until two years later that the whole family, including
Nirwan, could settle there.

In 1982, after finishing his post-graduate studies in
engineering at Monash University, Nirwan left Melbourne. He lived
in several Australian cities before leaving for Papua New Guinea,
where he lived for two-and-a-half years. In the last five years,
he has lived in Dunedin, New Zealand.

He is now in Indonesia on a two-year contract as a quality
assurance specialist.

"Since our arrival in January this year, we have enjoyed our
stay in Jakarta," he says.

His eldest daughter studies at a university in New Zealand,
but his two other children go to schools in Jakarta.

"They can now use their hands to eat. To some people, this may
not be something that a parent should be proud about, but to (my
wife) Renno and myself, these are things that bridge the two
cultures. We certainly hope that all these will prepare our
children for the future of globalization."

Andi and Linda (not their real names) came to the United
States in the early 1990s separately as post-graduate students at
the same university in Washington D.C.

To overcome their financial limitations, both worked from
midnight to dawn, delivering newspapers in Washington's suburbs.
Although it is physically demanding, the job is common among
foreign college students, since it pays well and the hours are
flexible.

The two married four years ago and bought a house in a
Maryland suburb. Their daughter, born a year after they were
married, automatically became an American citizen.

After finishing their studies in 1995, they decided to stay
and seek permanent residency. Since they had overextended their
student visas, they sought assistance from an immigration lawyer,
who advised them to set up a company, which is now defunct.

Several months ago they received their greencards (working
visas).

Now, Linda works part-time as a real estate agent. Her
experiences make her clients, mainly Indonesian or Asian couples
who are also settling in the area, easy to relate to her. Andi is
now trying to set up a franchise company. The two still deliver
newspapers since Linda's real estate business slacks off during
winter. (sim/emb/kod/46)