I am writing this article as a reminder to you all - Indonesian-descendant abroad asking this question to yourself : Should I go home (to Indonesia) after studying abroad ?
You make the decisions yourself - and I will present you the facts.
I went back to Jakarta after studying and working abroad for 8 years - because I missed my family. I can tolerate the traffic, the air-pollution, the office politics, the bad healthcare, the bad sanitation and hygiene in street foods, etc. I have had hopes that Indonesian-descendants (whatever the race - Chinese, Arabs, Indians, etc) can live in Indonesia peacefully, that "wind of change" are coming when Jokowi and Ahok was elected as Jakarta Governor/Vice Governor, then Jokowi elected as President and Basuki (I will address him as Ahok - not because I am racist; but that's the common name that people know him as). took over as Jakarta Governor (with Djarot as Vice Governor).
Like millions of people living and/or working in Jakarta, currently I am experiencing bad traffic when going to office, or going back from office. Nevertheless, we all realized that it's for the better Jakarta (building Mass Rapid Transit/MRT), coming more tollways, fast train from Cibubur and from Airport to City - it's all progressing rapidly.
Those that running business must have experienced that current Government was trying to cut the red-tapes for permits, etc - making it easier to apply or renew permits and cutting bureaucratic red-tapes shorter - making Indonesia more attractive for foreign investment. Beside that, current Government also working hard to identify and arrests the corruptors - be it from government officials, or from outside (private sectors, businesses who tried to make their way by bribing - a common concept in Indonesia when you are trying to make things go smoothly). 
However, all that utopia dreams seems to have vanished - when during his Governor campaign for 2nd term, he was being sued by religion (Islam) blasphemy issue. If you are curious about the facts, you can find out about it and googled about it yourself - then make your own conclusions. In my perspective - what he said was "don't get fooled (by people) using Al Maidah : 51 (one of the verse in Koran - moslem's bible) about not electing non-moslem as your leader. There are many perspectives what does that verse means (you also can Google them by yourself - some said Awliya - a term in Arabic ; could means friends; could also means leader - while other said that leader these days are not necessarily religious leaders; but more like a public/civil servant - which is basically what a Governor is). However, when this issue was being blown up as religion blasphemy - Ahok chances of being elected as Governor for 2nd term seems to have vanished. His political opponents taking this opportunity to blast the religious issue :
* If you are moslem, and you voted for Ahok - you are guilty to your religion, and will suffer in hell
* If you are moslem, and you voted for Ahok - when you died, the mosque will reject to pray for your body.
* Hardcore moslems taking this actions by holding mass protests to do demo on Ahok that crippled Jakarta for several occasions (212 action - refer to December 2nd, 2016 - the first date when they do the demo - until to date; when Ahok still not imprisoned, they will not stop).
Now, as an Indonesian- descendant living (or studying) abroad - you may think that : this too will pass. Well, to tell you the truth - it won't. A friend of mine - who comes from a smaller city in Indonesia (Medan - in Sumatera island) told me this : In the past, the racial sentiment are bigger in the smaller cities - you can feel or must have experienced it when being called "Chinese, Arabs, or Indians". It's quite common, and they already (or try to) get used to it. But in Jakarta, we have never felt that - because in Jakarta, everyone is coming from different areas of Indonesia (even from abroad). When you see an oriental guy walking down in Sudirman (Jakarta Central Business District area) - he is not necessarily a Chinese. He could be Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and so on. However, after Ahok religion blasphemy issue being blown up - suddenly being non-Indonesian or non-moslem (well, especially Chinese and Christian - because that's what Ahok is) suddenly became bad. If you are Chinese, or Christian, or both - it's bad for you.
Now, some of you reading this article may argued - nope, that's not the case - we never experienced it. Well, maybe - if you are living in North Jakarta, West Jakarta, or Central Jakarta - where the non-Indonesian are majority there. Try living in South Jakarta, East Jakarta, Bekasi, or Tangerang area where Indonesians are majority. When it's not an issue in the past, it became an issue when the hardcore moslem group said that it's a religion blasphemy by a Chinese Christian Governor candidate. Suddenly, living in Indonesia became a nightmare and you are afraid that 1998 Riot/Racial Incident may occur again.
Based on leading survey - more than 70% of Jakarta citizen actually happy withe the progress made - but however, only 42% opt to choose Ahok as their Governor. And all - according to political analyst - is because of the (alleged) religion blasphemy done by Ahok, and when people voting - they voted because of emotional factor, and not logical. Now, seeing this facts - would you - Indonesian abroad - still coming back to Indonesia thinking that Indonesia could still be your utopian place to stay ? Or would you rather stay abroad ?
I know for a fact what's living abroad feels like, There will always be haters, racist people. But nevertheless, it's not the whole society there. You may still have your faith in humanity there. Here, not so much. If you don't believe what I have shared with you in this article - check with your acquaintances or families in Indonesia (or Jakarta) - and ask for their opinions. Reality check : only 42% of Jakarta people voted for Ahok - meaning : only 42% Jakarta citizen are "reasonable and logical" enough to think with their head and take a logical political decision. The rest ? I am not sure here. You be the judge yourself.
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