JakartaPost-Aug 9
At the tail end of his master’s degree course in Singapore, 24-year-old Bagas from South Tangerang, Banten, ponders if he should stay to work there or return home. “I’m still looking for a job, but if I do get one, then I’ll take it,” Bagas, an information systems student at one of Singapore’s renowned public universities, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Bagas is not the only one who thinks so. Indonesia has seen a wave of young people between 25 to 35 years old emigrating to Singapore, reaching almost 4,000 people from 2019 to 2022, according to Immigration Director General Silmy Karim in July. Last year even saw 1,091 new Singaporeans coming from Indonesia, higher than around 800 people in 2020. The news caused a stir on social media, with many Indonesians supporting those who seek better welfare and work opportunities abroad. But concerns about a “brain drain” also arise, as the country’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2045, a century after independence, hinges on skilled young people being the backbone of Indonesia’s long-term development. Amid the debate, calls for dual citizenship to be permitted in Indonesia have started to mount from advocacy groups and Indonesian students abroad. According to the 2006 Citizenship Law, Indonesia does not recognize dual citizenship, except in the case of children of one Indonesian and one non-Indonesian parent, who may hold their dual citizenship until the age of 17, after which they have three years to register their preferred nationality. Support for dual citizenship also comes from the Indonesian Mixed-Marriage Society (PerCa), which has been pushing the government to facilitate children of mixed marriages with more options and, if possible, to keep both of their nationalities. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo himself called on Friday for awardees of the government’s Education Endowment Fund (LPDP) to come home, even though “the wages here might be lower and other countries’ facilities might be nicer”. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/09/brain-drain-calls-mount-for-dual-citizenship-in-indonesia.html
