Kawin Campur Bride Prices
Feb 21st, 2010, in News, by Patung
Foreign men marrying Indonesian women and a $50,000 security guarantee.
The initial draft of a bill on religious marriage law to be put forward to the parliament this year is said by some to contain a clause that would require foreign (Muslim) men wishing to marry Indonesian (Muslim) women to make a deposit of 500 million rupiah (about $50,000) into a sharia bank account as a guarantee, in case they later desert their wives and any resultant children and return to their home countries.
The draft bill, which is called in its full glory Rancangan Undang-undang (RUU) Hukum Materiil Peradilan Agama Bidang Perkawinan, but is sometimes mentioned in the media as RUU Nikah Siri, RUU Peradilan Agama, or RUU Perkawinan, is meant to be a clarification and strengthening of the original Marriage Act of 1974.
The bill, in general terms, says men, foreign or Indonesian, are required to provide monetary support to estranged wives until divorce papers are finalised, and to any children under the age of 21. The $50,000 dollar guarantee is an attempt to prevent foreign men from avoiding these obligations by leaving the country.
Foreign women wishing to marry Indonesian men will not be required to make similar arrangements, however like men they are expected to get permission from their countries of origin to marry.
Minister of Religion Suryadharma Ali, whose office is responsible for having prepared the draft, says the Department of Religion had heard of a number of cases in Jepara, Central Java, where foreign furniture businessmen had arranged to acquire Indonesian brides, and once their dealings in the town were done deserted their local wives. detiknews
Opinions
Actress Ratu Felisha, married to Dutchman Jules Korsten, is one who is supportive of the idea, saying that Indonesian women will thereby be protected in mixed marriages, although she worries that some jobless women might deliberately seek out foreign men to woo, in order to have access to the money later. detikhot
Meanwhile Julia Perez, who was once married to Spaniard Damian Perez but now gets around with Argentinian Gaston Castano, is vociferously opposed, imploring the government to reconsider the plan. solopos
Another actress, the gorgeous Feby Febiola, who is married to somebody called Bruce Deltail from France, says the impression given is that the government is selling Indonesian women, at the right price, and further that not all bules in Indonesia have that sort of money lying around.
Another controversial proposal in the bill includes sanctions of up to six months imprisonment for Muslims carrying out nikah siri informal marriages, which are not later registered with the Department of Religion. This aspect of the bill has excited the most controversy, which has caused Minister of Religion Suryadharma Ali to state that it is only a draft, and will likely be revised before being put to parliament.
174 Comments on “Kawin Campur Bride Prices”
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venna says:
@Oigal:
Why would they get to keep the interest?
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I spontaneously repeated my brother’s famous sentence. I used to use his account to keep my money, and everytime I use it he will say: I take the interests. Haha…The same analogy here. Seems to me that the account will be under government’s name, and the money is not classified as investment for the couples, only a guarantee. So my first assumption is that they only get their 500 million – or minus if they got charged with additional fees.
@ET & patung: this RUU is completely based on islamic laws, from head to toe. Very discriminative.
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FonnyDivaMermaid says:
Sorry if I can ask, it is only for Muslim, or not Muslim also has to do this thing ? thx
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Hi Fonny, yes it does look like it’s only for Muslims.
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ET says:
yes it does look like it’s only for Muslims.
If this law is for muslims only – which I doubt is conform to the constitution – does it mean that the male wedding candidate is forced by law to convert and the woman has no choice?
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Thx Patung,
oh well I can say is, $50.000 is not little money, not all foreign men have it just for security guarantee. lol
and yes it is giving an impression that our government is selling our Indonesian women.
oh well, I think I better use the money for travelling all around the world. lol. -
Correct me if I’m wrong…. but these are what I know so far:
*a marriage between a moslem & non-moslem is considered as illegal in islamic term and no longer accepted in Indonesia (if I’m not mistaken)
*but, a moslem man can marry a non-moslem woman and a moslem woman cannot marry a non-moslem man. This because in Islam, the man is seen as the leader (imam), and in a relationship, this is a fundamental aspect. Most moslem women want to have good imam and they select their best candidate based on this too (with good character, maturity, etc…and he should be a moslem – either born moslem or muallaf)
*of course there is a possibility that the woman willingly embraces new religion with the consequence that she will be an outsider and considered as a murtad. Swifting religion has heavy consequences; socially or psychologically; both to the woman & her families. It’s not easy. But in some cases, after passing the conflict period, they begin to show understanding and respect to each other.
*Some couples choose to keep their own religion and having interfaith marriage. It is not considered as legal in Indonesia, but in other countries interfaith marriage generally is accepted. -
I didn’t know interfaith marriage is illegal in indonesia (not trolling here). Are you sure? I didn’t know my country is _that_ backward….
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That’s what I know so far…. in the past we can register our marriage at catatan sipil, but right now seems that departemen agama chooses to be strict on this. You see the new RUU as the example.
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bs says:
According to the Dutch embassy and KUA in malang (but they are self-serving in this case), interfaith marriage is illegal in Indonesia. So much for tolerance. The unity is just a collection of diversities and they’re not allowed to exchange members.
Funny thing is that Indonesia did sign some international treaties in which discrimination based on gender or religion is not allowed. It’s backward indeed.
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Alright, that means I have to add another 10 years to my forecast about the time gay marriage will be approved in indonesia.
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@diego
add another 10 years if your gay lover is muslim 😉
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Odinius says:
Indonesia, as far as I know, will not allow interfaith marriages. However, all that is needed is a certificate from the relevant official stating a conversion has taken place. It will also not annul marriages if there is a subsequent conversion of one or more partners.
@diego…only 10?!
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@Odinius:
Don’t worry, my forecast is flaming accurate. Those additional 10 years that would make 97 years.
By that time Indonesia will be the “human capital of the world” (as other countries would have turned gays, so they stop reproducing. The only way they can maintain their existence is by adopting children from indonesia, where there are still heterosexual couples, or quintets (one man + four women) concocting humelets — little humans…, okay, kids).
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Chris says:
I asked a friend who lives in Egypt said about the similar system there. It seems it is to merely protect local women’s rights when quickie marriages to much older foreign men occur.
Here is what he said :
50,000USD????? Is SBY on the take from the sharia banks????
I didn’t realise it until I did some research just now, but there is a law that says when the age difference between a foreigner and a local is more than 25 years, the foreigner must put 50,000EGP (8,000USD) in the National Bank of Egypt in the wife’s name. It’s mainly to stop the Saudis from coming here for the summer, paying for a young “wife” and then ditching her, in some cases after she has become pregnant to him.
Here’s a couple of articles that talk about it:
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6177
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7452456.stmI don’t know about popularity, because the only foreigner/Egyptian marriages I know are close in age. It certainly doesn’t apply to all foreign/Egyptian marriages.
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Oigal says:
the foreigner must put 50,000EGP (8,000USD) in the National Bank of Egypt in the wife’s name.
Now that sounds fair enough to me and a stinks a whole lot less of yet another scam
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Why would they get to keep the interest?
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I spontaneously repeated my brother’s famous sentence. I used to use his account to keep my money, and everytime I use it he will say: I take the interests. Haha…Leaving the family agreements out of it. It is not the government’s money (should this joke of law come to pass) therefore keeping the interest could only be morally classified as theft. Even the tax office returns interest (at a scummy rate) when they lose tax cases.
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Odinius said
It will also not annul marriages if there is a subsequent conversion of one or more partners.
Then why the clause about murtad and syariah bank in the RUU – if it’s still there? If they stay together but both decide to leave Islam will the couple be able to recover the deposit from the syariah bank? Note that if they do everything by the rules their KTP will show their new religion which won’t go unnoticed by the bank officials.
Everything about this RUU Perkawinan stinks.
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therefore keeping the interest could only be morally classified as theft.
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Totally agree.However, after reading the RUU again, the deposit is in the wife’s name.
(3) Calon suami yang berkewarganegaraan asing telah membayar u-ang jaminan kepada calon isteri melalui bank syariah di Indo-nesia sebesar Rp. 500.000.000,- (lima ratus juta rupiah).If there’s something happened during their marriage (e.g. abuse, negligence, murtad, divorced), the wife can claim the money based on the Court’s decision. And if there’s nothing serious happened for 10 years, both wife and husband can claim it as their joint asset/money.
But, it is still unclear though how the syariah bank will manage the money. Is it as a certificate deposit/CD with 5-10 year term, or just saving account that is protected with special regulation? And why 50 million? It’s just so insane.
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Yea, I don’t care who you are, to tie up $50,000 for ten years is a big ask for anybody let alone newly weds.
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deta says:
(3) Calon suami yang berkewarganegaraan asing telah membayar u-ang jaminan kepada calon isteri melalui bank syariah di Indo-nesia sebesar Rp. 500.000.000,- (lima ratus juta rupiah)
Once this constitution is validated, I think this is what gonna happen:
Heaps of gold diggers will rush into the bank appointed to open a saving account. Once they have the account, they start to look around to find foreigners that at least have 500 million rupiah, then seduce them in so far as they’re willing to be their husbands no matter how old, how ugly, or how bad tempered the men are (actually the older the better). Right after getting married, the women start nagging, yelling and threatening their husbands with divorce. And…voila! They discover the newest way to be millionaires and ready for the next prey.
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BrotherMouzone says:
“when the age difference between a foreigner and a local is more than 25 years, the foreigner must put 50,000EGP (8,000USD)”
That 50,000 figure looks remarkably familiar.
It might be a coincidence, but what are the chances that the genius who cooked up this scheme read about the Egyptian law but didn’t notice that the amount was in was EGP rather than USD?
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Laurence says:
I would never marry anyone if I had to pay to do so. Feels to much like prostitution to me.
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Once this constitution is validated, I think this is what gonna happen:
Or this will happen:
Lots of naive bules will continue to fall in love with charming and pretty Indonesian girls, unaware of the impending financial consequences if the relation develops into something serious. From one thing comes another and after a while datang bulan doesn’t shop up. Poor (or even not so poor) bule suddenly realizes that if he takes on his responsibilities he may go bankrupt or at least be mortgaged for a substantial part of his life and sees no other solution than to flee the scene of the crime or – depending on his moral outlook – offers to pay for an abortion.
What happens to the girl afterwards is another story… -
It might be a coincidence, but what are the chances that the genius who cooked up this scheme read about the Egyptian law but didn’t notice that the amount was in was EGP rather than USD?
BrotherMouzone, I totally agree with you! These geniuses didn’t do their homework, alright!
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Once this constitution is validated, I think this is what gonna happen:
Or this will happen:
Either way,
Its all about the money
Its all about the dum dum duh dee dum dum
I don’t think it’s funny -
Or the super wealthy (raja minyak alike whose seems to afford shelling 50grand) guys will start treating their ‘expensive’ wives like a brought slave! No money can protect these abused women from their husband’s wrath should he chose to harm her so what the heck is that ‘deposit’ gonna do other than fatten up these idiots who made the law.
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but what are the chances that the genius who cooked up this scheme read about the Egyptian law but didn’t notice that the amount was in was EGP rather than USD?
Laugh.. of course, I think you have plumbed the depths of policy making in Indonesia. Shame really, we know there are smart, ethical people out there but none seem to make it as lawmakers. I wonder why?
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Oigal,
It seems that $50,000 is too much for a human life. In my book, you can’t put a value on human life. Maybe you’ve been spending too much time with accountants, but for Indonesian Woman, $50,000 is ever way too little: she is incomparable. Would you like to go back to the Back of Burke and see what they have there ?
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But doesn’t sharia also require the wife to produce four male witnesses before she can “prove” any of the things that justifies claiming the prize?
Comment on “Kawin Campur Bride Prices”.
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I am Indonesian, and my fiance is Spanish, and we were shocked when we knew about this. I really feel that the government should not deal with this marriage-thing so much. If they control our marriage, it is the same as they don’t give us the right to marry to someone we love. It is a human right.
Besides, making this law is the same as a high-level of prostitution since the government themselves sell the Indonesian women to earn money. The law says that the money will be used in case there is a divorce. But how if there will never be any divorce? Besides, I believe that even Indonesian men themselves treat their wives badly. So why don’t the government take care about this more?
I think this law is completely ridiculous.