Indonesia

Indonesian migrants are a smaller migrant group than the Philippine migrants to Australia, some of the Indonesian migrants also had internet relationships with Australians. One research on Indonesian migrants, points out that due to Indonesia's complex diversity of religious and ethnic beliefs, Indonesian migrants have the very qualities needed to adapt particularly well to the Australian multicultural society (Penny, 1996).¹

While, research carried out so far by this Department of Anthropology has interviewed Indonesian migrants in cross-cultural marriages that are living in Canberra, as well as those involved in internet relationships. Some of the Indonesians who had an internet relationship with their Australian spouses met through chatting at popular internet chatting sites or were introduced via another internet friend. To some who had an internet relationship, miscommunication and initial difficulty in gaining trust in the relationship could occur.

Both those who had an internet relationship and those who did not meet through the internet voiced that being of the same religion or willingness to convert (some converted for marriage papers) was significant in their decision to marry. Some of those interviewed in Canberra met their Australian partners in Indonesia while their partner was doing Indonesian studies, or was there as a tourist, or was there for work purposes for a private company or for various Australian government organisations. Therefore, there are Indonesian partners who said that their choice of Australian spouse was mainly because of their spouse's knowledge of or willingness to understand Indonesian culture. Similarly, there are Australian partners who also voiced that their Indonesian spouse understood the Australian way of life because they had already lived in Australia, for example, as an international student, or that their partner had lived in another Western country.

Like any other marriages, negotiating household finances is an important issue for the couple. In the case of the Indonesian-Australian couples the importance of financially supporting the Indonesian partner's family/extended family has sometimes been discussed as an issue of cultural difference. However, of all the couples interviewed so far, less than half have financially supported the Indonesian partner's family or members of their extended family. The reasons are varied. There are younger couples that would like to support their Indonesian extended family but are not financially able to, and there are Indonesian families who are financially secure and supporting them was never an issue. Almost all of the Australian partners interviewed have described their Indonesian partners as either financially independent, or as having equally contributed to the household finances throughout or at particular stages of their marriage.

Another issue that half of the couples interviewed also mentioned is their awareness of stereotypes, negative experiences or 'discrimination' against them as an inter-racial couple in Australia or Indonesia. Some of the male Australian partners describe their awareness of the negative stereotype of the passive 'Asian' female/wife in Australia and say that their Indonesian partners are 'opposite' to this. They use words such as assertive, free thinking, independent, smart or non-traditional to describe their wives. There are also couples who tell the story of being in Indonesia and receiving different treatment when they walked in public with their children, because they no longer received yells, abuse or negative comments about their relationship being outside the 'norm' or morally suspect. Having children apparently showed that the couples were legitimately married and it was a proper family 'union'. There are contradictions however in the community attitude with some couples describing seeing Indonesian magazines being full of stories of models, actresses and actors who are married to foreigners or 'Westeners' and how this is seen as glamorous. They have also mentioned the popularity of models or film stars who are half 'Western', i.e. children of cross-cultural couples.

Reference

1. Penny, J., and Khoo, S-E., 1996, Intermarriage: A Study of Migration and Integration (Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service).