IND: Ini Nederland Dunk

What classifies a country developed, developing, or under-developed? It’s a tough question but without those fancy jargons and complex scrutiny, perhaps we can see that when one country is stable (economically speaking), advanced (technologically speaking), and efficient/effective (bureaucratically speaking), it can be classified as a developed country of which Indonesia doesn’t belong to the group.

It’s so easy to find the differences between Holland and Indonesia. In the surface level, for instance, very good transportation system in Holland versus chaotic in Indonesia; affordable versus sometimes too dear price of staples; easily accessed versus frustratingly slow Internet connection; availability versus scarcity of library source, etc. When we go deeper into the day-to-day matters, we will know that even junkies are well-fed by the government, housewives paid, and children below 17 subsidized (of course if you legally work there, you contribute to all this social security expenditure with the income tax of, around, 25% of your gross salary).

But when it comes to bureaucracy, you will find that there is not much difference in Holland and Indonesia. I’ve been through so many displeasing experiences dealing with the bureaucracies in the bank*, housing and electricity companies, university’s administration office, hospital, etc, but most often with the Immigration office—an annual distress. What is so surprising is that although those experiences are distressing, they’re not unfamiliar with my experiences in Indonesia, it’s a déjà vu. Why is it surprising? Because it fails to meet my expectations about how a developed country would be. And that is what exactly hurts.

Every year, about four months prior to the expiry date of our residence permit, the Immigration Office, here is called Immigratie en Naturalisatie Dienst, or IND in short, usually send us a form of extension. After filing all the requirements and sending the form back to IND, they will issue a bill and instruct us to pay immediately. Failure to meet this instruction means your application is ignored. And that wasn't what I did; I paid the bill exactly the next morning after I received it. But, still it doesn’t help; it doesn’t make my application handled faster.

So, this morning I called IND since I have sent my application of the extension of residence permit since four months a go and received not even a word from them until this second. I tell you, to call them you have to really prepare yourself, mentally and materially. First, there’s always a possibility that you’ll be thrown to many officers, and that can be emotionally draining. Secondly, adding up to the mental distress, the call can cost you dearly as it is not a regular telephone service, especially if you call them via your mobile phone. When you finally can talk to one of the officers who might seem to understand your situation or case, the most hurting is the anticlimax that after explaining to him/her about your desperation to know the decision of your application, that is after waiting for four, five, or six months, he/she will say, as if wisely: “there is no decision yet, please be patient, mam”. If you’re accustomed to how the bureaucracy works in Indonesia, you might find it not dissimilar or surprising, but in fact this is why it's hurting considering that you're in Holland, gitu lho.

But still, there is a difference. Here, when you’re told “please, be patient, mam”, you cannot just let yourself in rage. Otherwise, you’ll risk being stamped as ‘the savage human being’, although it's crystal clear that you have the right to get angry. In Indonesia, if a similar thing happens, you’ll at least have an outlet to release your frustration and people will probably understand when, in response to the same utterance, you shout “be patient, your head”.

*Here you can read how the International students have to struggle with the bureaucracy, in this case, the banking system. To bear in mind, many of Indonesian students here are scholarship grantees and will only receive their monthly stipends after they open a bank account. So, you can imagine if they have to wait for three months for that.