Ramadan -- A Time of Peace, Harmony, and a Little Reflection...

There must be something in the water or air out Lombok way this Ramadan. It seems that foreigners and the local populace cannot find any common ground upon which to co-exist peacefully.

The latest incident saw another expat home trashed. Stephen Alexander, a German, complained to the local Village Head of Lembah Sari that someone had destroyed his garden statues (presumably they were not gnomes).

His manner of complaint, and a suggestion that the local Muslim populace were poor imitations of good Muslims inspired the local Muslim populace to show him how good they were, and they trashed his house.

One has to wonder whether the matter of principle here was really worth the ultimate outcome? A few statues for a whole house, hmmmm? The statues allegedly resembled Hindu figures and Alexander had been asked to remove them. The Jakarta Globe is reporting that Alexander is a Muslim. Maybe he now wishes that he had just moved them into the backyard or out of plain view.

I am all for a little peaceful co-existence, some harmony, and a little reflection. However, all of these things seem to be premised on a little bit of tolerance. Expats have to understand there are ways and means in Indonesian society where you can express your displeasure and get results in your favour. And, there are ways and means that will only enrage and facilitate a response that will only serve to escalate any tensions present. That said, Indonesians also need to develop a little bit thicker skin and appreciate that no matter how long the expat lives in Indonesia that sometimes the expats just cannot help but to revert to what they know or who they are.

When it is all said and done, jumping up and down on the spot and yelling is not likely to see the outcome you want eventuate. Alexander has learned this the hard way.

The moral of the story here...tolerance. We all need to learn a little bit of it. Surely among adults this is a dispute that could have been resolved without insulting the local populace or the trashing of someone's house.

Ho hum...

Expatriate Property Ownership -- Indonesia...

The idea that expatriates (expats) may one day be able to own property in Indonesia has been tossed around for years. But, as is usually the way, nothing has become of those ideas until now. However, it would seem that there is still some ways to go before the ideas become reality. Yet, it is interesting to see that the State Department of Public Housing is making rumblings to the effect that there are moves afoot to loosen the prohibitions on expats owning Indonesian property.

The current state of affairs permits expats to take 25-year extendable (once) leases on property. There are other ways that expats go about "owning" a property in Indonesia. The most common of these is a nominee structure that involves the property being purchased by an Indonesian and then used as collateral in a loan agreement with the expat. This type of structure is one that is frequently used in Bali.

The current discussion appears to suggest that cities and special economic zones are the most likely areas to see the prohibitions eased. Nevertheless, the talk also suggests that the ownership of property in city areas is likely to be restricted to apartments. This in essence would mean that there is still likely going to be high demand for the nominee structure to remain if expats are more interested in a house as opposed to an apartment.

Yet, this is definitely a move in the right direction.

I guess time will tell whether there will be a full liberalization of the real estate sector that would allow foreigners to own property, and as much of it as they can afford. Maybe if the rules do change I might even be tempted to get into the market myself.

Legal in Jakarta?

Every year the City Population and Civil Registration Agency send their inspectors to do the rounds of businesses employing foreigners in order, supposedly, to check that their paperwork is all squared away.

This "inspection" has also been a traditional annual under the table money spinner as there are invariably a good number of businesses and foreigners who believe they will never get caught and do not bother to get the myriad of paperwork and permits completed.

This year the Agency found 55 of the 241 expats across 62 different companies that they surveyed / inspected did not have their paperwork in order. Assuming that this is an accurate reflection of the numbers and not just the ones being reported, then this is a rate of more than 1 in 5 without the right paperwork and therefore technically working illegally in Indonesia. Stupid.

The simple reality is that all the countries that I have ever visited or worked in have had in place strict regulations governing foreign or expat labor. To expect that Indonesia is any different is naive and to assume that everything remains "fixable" is not good risk management.

The Agency seems to have been generous this year as it did not impose the sanctions it could have done on the illegal workers, but rather gave them a grace period to get their paperwork in order.

According to Agency data there are some 49,000 foreigners with work visas and a further 5,000 who would be classified as permanent residents (five continuous years or more) living and working in Jakarta. I have got to say that I can imagine that it is that many but I also have to say that I have never seen more than a hundred or so gathered in any one place at one time (usually a business networking meeting). So, I wonder where they all are and what they are doing?

But, back to the point. I really do not see what is so hard with understanding that as guests in this country we are required to comply with the prevailing laws and regulations. Admittedly, immigration is a bureaucratic challenge but it is a challenge that can be overcome. It is interesting to me that many of my colleagues talk about corruption in Indonesia but have no problem with paying 50K here or 20K there to get some forms to fill in that are free or 30k for some fella to snap their photo and take a set of fingerprints.

If you keep feeding the monster ...

Indonesia and Foreign Labor

There are lots of expatriates in Indonesia. However, this is just an impression as I have not yet bothered to enquire of the Indonesian immigration services as to exact numbers but I will over the next couple of days! There are probably many expats who have a horror or perhaps even a funny story related to the trials and tribulations that are working in Indonesia and dealing with Indonesian immigration officials.

However, some of these stories probably relate to the incompetent businesses and companies that often employ them and as often seek to circumvent the applicable rules such as paying the USD 100 per month foreigner tax or employing someone in a different capacity to that which was claimed in the application process.

A recent decision from the Industrial Relations Court had opportunity to canvass some of these issues and the decision that was handed-down apparently does very little to clarify the position of expatriate labor in Indonesia but in fact makes any foreigner employed in Indonesia susceptible to the strong-armed tactics of employers. The applicant in this case is a foreigner and the claim was that more than 30 violations of the Indonesian Employment Law (Law No. 13 of 2003) were committed in the recruiting, hiring, and subsequent firing of this person.

As I said, I have not seen the decision yet and will not comment definitively until I have. But if the grapevine is true to its word, and it usually is, then this is a story I will post more on when I have it. Apparently, the decision is going to be appealed so perhaps there will be more wide-spread media coverage of the nitty gritty details for us to peruse.

Blogging Ethics...

I wonder what blogging ethics are? What constitutes intellectual honesty and integrity?

I am a man of principle and call things as I see them and admit my mistakes when I get it wrong but it does not seem that everyone who blogs is like me, which is probably a good thing as the statistics indicate that I am not a popular read. So, perhaps I should abandon my principles and go for the popularity judged by visits or comments or something or whatever it is that determines what blogs are popular and what are not.

Yet, I am not going to do that. I am not going to abandon my principles and if people read me good, if they don't so be it! My blog is as much for myself as it is for anyone else. It is my stress value to vent and rant when I want to and to inform of happenings in and around me, but that's it! You get what you get!

It seems that comments I have made and some comments of my blog colleagues, some I know personally and some I know only as blogging kindred spirits, have touched a raw nerve and elicited a number of personal attacks that were not there and selective interpretations of what was.

As I said, I am a man of principle. I stand by and will defend the opinions that I hold through rational argument and debate. But when that argument and debate degenerates into personal attacks and plain distortion of the arguments made to paint the comments out of their original context. This is a standard journalistic and writing trick to deflect scrutiny of any response.

You will see that it is possible to be duped by the media. This blog contains one such example of this in relation to a post I made about Schapelle Corby. My error was corrected after one of my readers alerted me to the distortion that I had inadvertently continued to perpetrate. It would be refreshing if some others were quite as upfront and forthright in correcting the distortions that they allow to be perpetrated through their blogs when notified of the distortion...Ahhh to be so lucky.

This is not a whinge, although I am sure somewhere out there can suitably distort it into something else that resembles a whinge, but once again it is a reflection of my own personal experiences and my own personal opinions. If it offends then perhaps those that it offends should take a breath and consider why they are offended.

I am a nice bloke...read my posts and comments on other blogs. When I offend I apologise for the offence and correct a misrepresentation or mistake if one is made.

These recent experiences have not turned me off blogging but rather reinforced my belief that this is a perfect forum for open discussion and debate...so I am here for the long haul...get used to it, whether you like it or not!

Have a good weekend!