Thread: future for your chldren....

Hi!
Just want to know your thinking of the future of your children.
I am an Indonesian, married to a German. I am in Germany now and would really like to move to Indonesia, especially Bali. I am so happy that finally my husband have a chance to get a staying permit without setting up any company. BUT::::: many Indonesian who are living a broad telling me not to do that, Indonesia doesn't have a good future for the children.
Honestly, it doesn't change my 'heart desire'....
It would be great if you can share your thinking about your children's future in Indonesia, mostly if you're not Indonesian but 'brave' enough to just follow your heart to live in Indonesia.
Thanks.....
By the way, anybody ( any husband) got a staying permit with their wife as a sponsor already??? ( without setting up a company)
*Schöne grüsse*
Christine

Hi Christine,

I'm Dutch/Indonesian (my mother's from Indonesia) and my wife is Balinese. We've been living in Canada for the last 4 years and while here we've been blessed with two beautiful boys; Arjuna (age 3, 4 next month) and Sadewa (age 2, 3 in Dec.). We would both love to move back to Bali and are planning to do so within the next 2-3 years (wish I could be there now!).

I know there are a few expats here who have children in everything from home schools to international schools to Indonesian schools (and you'll find quite a few threads on schooling in Bali) but I don't remember reading anything about expats who's children were schooled in Bali and are now in a western university, and more importantly, how well they were able to adjust. I would love to hear more on this myself!

As for their future in Bali work wise, when they graduate from school? Unless they can follow whatever your business is in Bali, I would say that's the biggest set back! I imagine that's what your Indonesian friends are referring to also; there is very little job/career opportunities for them in Indonesia compared to the west (generally speaking of course).

Christine,

The whole idea of what a good future is is not set in stone. The Western idea of "progress" is certainly one way to live, but not the only one. (Too bad that Roy's not here because I think that we agree on this to an extent.) There's a long philosophical road that you have to go down before you make a decision involving kids. For us, our decision came down to letting the kids decide once they got a bit older. Two of them are now, and they are going with staying in Indonesia.

As I said above (trying not to be pedantic about this), there are a lot of variables that need to be considered. For us a few of them were: racism in the US, cost of living, religion, cultural values, family, overall style of life, education. As an educator, I put that last because when it all gets boiled down to basics, a kid that wants to learn will despite the environment that they swim in. I've seen a lot of good schools with kids who are just wasting their time and their parents' money.

Well, there's other issues here, but I need to get going because I have some classes soon.

Best of luck.

Doc, racism in the U.S? can you expand your thoughts on this matter? \But I do agree with you on all the other matters..... Frog

Is there a country with no racism?

Froggy,

In what way would you like this expanded on? I'm guessing that you don't mean to suggest that racism doesn't exist in the US. I meant that I didn't want my kids to be exposed to the anti-Asian racism that some of my Asian students had to deal with when I taught in the States.

Originally Posted by drbruce

Froggy,

In what way would you like this expanded on? I'm guessing that you don't mean to suggest that racism doesn't exist in the US. I meant that I didn't want my kids to be exposed to the anti-Asian racism that some of my Asian students had to deal with when I taught in the States.

Its funny you should say that, Dr. Bruce. My children look more Caucasian than Asian and they will no doubt be subjected to more race related issues in Indonesia than they would here. This does not only affect school time of course, it will be an issue no matter what. My kids will invited their friends to our house and they will see that we may live with more luxuries than them and that's of course always going to be an issue.

Well Sergio,
I don't know how that will work for you. The only problem that my daughter who looks like a Westerner has is that people continually tell her how beautiful she is. Money will always be an issue if you plan on having lots of it, but there's not much you can do about that other than teaching kids about the responsibilities that come with having more than others - in our case it's called meeting our obligations for zakat, and being appreciative of what we have.

My comment about the States came from objective research carried out years ago when I was a young anthropologist. My other experiences re racism come from the less objective position of being a civil rights activist during the King days back in Chicago.

Does racism exist here? Sure it does. Has it affected my kids? Other than Rebecca's experiences no.

Out of time.