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View all search resultsPatriotism needs no permission
Amid the ongoing commotion regarding the draft law on citizenship, perhaps it is time to hearken back to the wisdom of Ibu Pertiwi, our national personification, in revising our policies so they welcome back all who claim Indonesian roots with open arms.
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An Indonesian passport peeks out of a backpack in this stock illustration. (Shutterstock/Alii Sher)
B
loodlines flow freely, unconfined by lines on a map, and the love we hold for our homeland cannot be reduced to the color of a passport cover. Amid the commotion surrounding the draft Citizenship Law, we are asked to overlook an overwhelming contradiction.
While doors swing open to dual citizenship for select individuals, such as athletes and global talents selected for their potential or achievements, the single citizenship rule remains rigidly in place for those with deep roots in the nation: families of mixed heritage, the diaspora, all those whose hearts beat for Indonesia wherever they roam.
It is time to shift our perspective, replacing constant suspicion with a warmer value: “matriotism”. While conventional thinking often obsesses over upholding borders, “matriotism” is about nurturing and sheltering those within, depicting the state as a mother.
Ibu Pertiwi (Motherland), in her true essence, would never see her children as threats simply because they belong to more than one realm. A mother knows that identity is not a contest of loyalties but a network formed from many strands of love.
For third culture kids, children of mixed marriages and the diaspora, identity is a broad-spectrum perpetual journey, not a harsh choice that demands they cleave away a portion of themselves. They carry Indonesia in their hearts as they gather the values of the world around them. Thus, there is never a moment when it is fair to ask someone to abandon half their soul or to pretend they were never whole.
If authorities are prepared to grant lifelong dual citizenship as a gesture of appreciation to select individuals, then surely the same door should open for those whose ties are woven by family and love.
If institutions trust themselves to manage security risks for foreign experts, why not extend that trust to our own children, to mixed-heritage families, to former citizens and to the diaspora? Why does policy favor immediate benefits over the continual loyalty that springs from family bonds?
