Women's contribution

Women's contribution

I think it unlikely that, by his letter (The Jakarta Post,
March 11, 1995), Mr. Hario Subayu is actually enhancing public
relations for the Department of Immigration. Many Indonesian
career women like myself (including those who have attained high
government positions), must surely feel offended and aggrieved by
the implications inherent in the present immigration law.

Currently, a foreign man married to an Indonesian woman
wishing to live in Indonesia is granted no special rights by
virtue of his spouse's nationality. As Mr. Hario Subayu
indicates, such a person must apply for a KIM/S or a KIM in the
same way as all other male foreigners, and will one day, when he
can no longer demonstrate that his presence alone is "beneficial
to the country," be required to return to his own country
(presumably accompanied by his Indonesian wife and half-
Indonesian offspring).

In this way, Indonesian immigration law takes only the role of
the male progenitor into account, completely failing to treat
families as cohesive units. What of the Indonesian wife? What of
her contribution to this country? Can she be seen as nothing
other than the bearer of a foreign man's offspring, obliged to
simply follow her foreign husband and children when they are
required to leave? Or is it just possible that she, like many
prominent women in Indonesian history, has a significant
contribution of her own to make to Indonesia's development? Is
this not even more likely to be the case if she met her foreign
husband while gaining knowledge and experience overseas? If so,
why deprive Indonesian women married to foreigners of their de
facto, not de jure, right of residence in their own country?

Sadly, the present outdated immigration law appears to
symbolize either or both of two things: the lack of recognition
of women's roles in our society and the Indonesian inferiority
complex which is built on the assumption that what is foreign is
necessarily superior. The latter Indonesian misconception
applies, it seems, not only to our products but also to our
people, for Mr. Hario Subayu clearly demonstrates that the
contribution to Indonesia of the Indonesian wife of a foreigner
is ignored, or assumed to be of minor comparative significance
and, thus, easily foregone. Indonesia urgently needs to reform
its immigration laws to reflect the advancing role of its women
and its own advancing global role, both of which increasingly
bring its citizens into contact with foreigners.

At a time when the role of women has been given prominence at
the World Conference on Social Development, it would be
appropriate for Indonesia to demonstrate that not only its
economy, but also the perceived role of its women and the
nation's confidence and perception of itself, vis-a-vis the rest
of the world, are advancing similarly.

SHERISADA MANAF

Jakarta