Change Your Citizenship. Wanna Try?
Long long centuries ago I wrote about Anggun who changed her citizenship into French, but still has the feeling as Indonesian and dedicates her body and soul to Indonesia *halah*. I have also read about Indonesian-born Andy Tielman, the frontman of Tielman Brothers, among the first rock n roll bands in the world, and probably the first in Netherland, the first who owned Gibson Les Paul in Netherland (the list won’t stop), with their song, Stranger in My Land (please play the video below to find out what this song is about).
But now it is my friend that faces the same dilemma. He is an Indonesian physics PhD student who almost graduates (3-4 years from now) (the PhD programme itself takes 4 years, so, yeah, he is still in his first year 
) and plans to do postdoc afterwards. The postdoc programme that he is interested to apply urges him to change citizenship. So, which one should he take? Taking this programme in change for his citizenship, or seeking another programme but with “longer and more winding road”? Currently he decides not to take this programme and look for another programme that does not need him to change citizenship. His senior, a Chinese citizen, was also offered the same programme, but she declined, since “She is a proud Chinese”, said my friend about her.
I read his catharsis note in his Facebook, and, yeah, it is interesting to me, who often thinks about this citizenship and nationality issue. While he and several others persisted to be Indonesian by citizenship, a prominent figure in Indonesian Theoretical Physics Community who has been working abroad for several years pointed out the differences between concepts of nationality and citizenship. He said that, while he could change his passport 100x, he would be Indonesian by nationality till death do us part.
The risk of citizenship change is not easy to handle anyway. Yes, even though you can enjoy facilities offered by your new country, it will be harder to go back to your home country when you miss her. You know: visa, travel, the like. You can lose things commonly found in your home country but hard to find in your new country. Say, I change my citizenship to Singaporean. In an island this narrow, chances to have private home like in Indonesia is very scarce. Lastly, I don’t need to say that you have to obey rules that may sound weird in your previous country, but are applied in your new country. If I were to be a Singaporean, South Korean, or even Israeli, for example, my descendants (or maybe I) would need to enter NS, something not present in Indonesia.
…oh, OK, that was not the last. Another obstacle is facing denunciation from ex-fellows of citizenship. Two examples. A member of Beasiswa mailing list, that I join, assume his name is Z, a humanity NGO worker, wrote his opinion and plan to change his citizenship to Canadian in order to achieve higher position in his career more easily. Yeaaah…as you can predict, some members, either via PM directly to him or the public folder in mailing list, stated their disagreement toward his opinion. One even explicitly expressed his disgust, stating that Z only wanted the bling bling money.
Another example. Not exactly about citizenship change. I asked some friends about their opinions regarding Indonesian expats working abroad, especially in the field of academia. I refer to some Indonesians that take professorships in universities in other countries. Some friends accused them of not being nationalists, and of betraying their home country. If they were nationalists, they would be working in Indonesian universities. Being a perfect Devil’s Advocate (you know what I mean lah…heheheh 
), I argued that had they worked in Indonesia, they could not get the same achievements. Then I showed them some foreign researchers. The late Abdus Salam, the first Nobel Laurate from Pakistan, who worked in Imperial College London, founded The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, enabling physics researchers from developing countries to contribute to development of Theoretical Physics. Another example is Lotfi Zadeh, Iranian of Azeri descendant Professor Emeritus in University of California at Berkeley, the inventor of Fuzzy Logic. If they worked in their home countries, can they achieve that? I forget how this ended up. It seemed like I won the debate 
.
If people think this way about Indonesian professors working in universities abroad, how will they respond if one of their friends converts citizenship? What will they practically do?
I would like to mention some advantages of “giving your soul to another country”. I have ever watched a badminton match between two European countries in a prestigious competition, now in final phase. Guess what. All players are Chinese. If I were a Chinese, I would be really really proud of my nation.
Now take a look at some universities in USA and UK. Any universities: Oxbridge, Ivy League, mid-class universities, and count how many Chinese- and Indian-educated professors are there. Again, if I were a Chinese or Indian, I would be really really proud.
My opinion about this matter evoluted over time. When I was a child, having been fed up by the doctrine of nationalism in school, I decided not to change citizenship, ever! I wouldn’t even live permanently abroad, in contrast to what my father told me. I forgot why, but somehow at a point when I was really disappointed to Indonesia, I searched for procedures to change citizenship, and among the first targets was Scandinavian country. Hell, what countries are better to live in than them? OK, then I changed my mind. I thought that God won’t put me inside Indonesia if I cannot do something for her (WOW WOW NOW I AM TURNING RELIGIOUS LOLOLOL). I won’t change my citizenship unless it is very critical, e.g. if I will be persecuted in my own country. Now I changed my mind again. If I can contribute to humanity better, it’s OK to change citizenship. I can still visit my family and friends in Indonesia anyway, or even contribute to development of Indonesia, just like what my father said, “live outside, work for inside”. Somewhat fluctuative, eh?
So, my brother, whatever option you choose, go to Cambridge, Oxford, or Harvard lah. Find a wife first and then you two move there to contribute to humanity. Can can? 
*halah*
(halah)
:halah:
~halaaa~~~~hh~
To conclude this post, let me half-quote Lotfi Zadeh.
The question really isn’t whether I’m American, Russian, Iranian, Azerbaijani, or anything else. The question is, what can I do for humanity and civilization?
————————————————————————
BTW, another quote of the day.
“Breaking a pledge…breaking a pledge of
loyaltyneutrality is aKnightJournalist’s highest disgrace. But…But I am…I am…I AM!!! I AM a human first and aKnightJournalist second!!! I don’t need your title! I resign myself to your disgrace! But I will never forgive you!!! I can never look idly by while lives are being thrown away!!!”
~ Sir Miklotov in Suikoden II Muntader al-Zaidi in another dimension, an RPG geek, while performing the same action as another him in this dimension
So, Find a wife first? hemm…
sounds strange..
*bersiap cari*
Masnya…ini belum selesai diedit… T__T
Nanti datang lagi ya…
About this matter, anyway, he said that he prefer having Indonesian wife, so I think he should find one first before moving.
Saya datang lagi..
Sudah dieditkah?
Beluum…refresh lagi coba
Hemm…
Kok ndak ada bedanya
Ya berarti memang belum selesai
Sabar yaa…sabaar… ^^’
Sudah selesai, silakan dikomentari
It all depends on the trade-off. You just have to calculate all the consequences.
But I got to say that I don’t see one’s changing citizenship as a major sin or something. If it is a rational choice, why not?
Yup, just like other things in this world, citizenship conversion has its own (+) and (-).
One of the problem is, as I wrote above, many don’t think like you do. Many consider this as betrayal toward own country.
I’ve always thought that nationality is a fragile label of identity.
What qualifies as “Indonesian” anyway? Country is one thing, nationality is another. Let’s say that the UK occupies Sumatra, does that make me British? Technically so, but it does show how fragile nationality is, is it not? Very loose.
I say don’t equate one’s heritage and ancestry with global political agreements.
All the same, I have no qualms whatsoever with anyone changing his or her occupation, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or species.
Just mind the trade-off. Some trade-offs would worth the trouble, some would not.
If what you meant is the “Indonesian” citizenship,
1) Your Birth Certificate / “Akta Kelahiran”
2) Your Citizen ID / “KTP”
3) Your passport
4) Your entry at some government’s databases
Anything else?
Based on my experience as an ex-scholarship hunter, the first three are documents that universities use to identify your citizenship. The last one is beyond your control
If what you meant is nationality…now that’s hard. I think it depends on your emotional tie toward certain country, so only honest confession can identify (if needed, under cruel medieval torture
). You can choose not to have this though 
. CMIIW.
BTW, am I correct to assume you are against geo-spatial politics?
Sometimes I think this way, but maybe since I am afraid to be too extreme, I tend to repulse my thought into safety zone on the middle line.
BTW2, please CMIIW, but I think you are using the terms “nationality” and “citizenship” interchangeably, as if they are synonymous. Please note that in my post they have different meanings, as told by the “prominent figure and so forth” in my friend’s Facebook.
…and I wonder how this can be done. Using certain Hocus Pocus or Abracadabra, maybe?
Yup, yup =3=
hmmm…
aku juga sering berfikir, kalo lulus trus pulang kira-kira bakal terkejar ga ya cita citaku jadi peneliti (instead of deosen)… secara di sini aku begitu menikmati menjadi seorang peneliti… ada kepuasan tersendiri (halah)
hmmm I even think, my next journey after my PhD is Loughborough, then Lund, then NASA, then… hmmm back to indonesia, meliburkan diri dan mengurus anak cucu di rumah sambil ngelus ngelus jenggot, dan berkata, “ah indahnya dunia…”
Hmmm… (ikut-ikutan menggumam)
) Yayan pulang ke Indonesia nanti, susah kalau mau aktif di penelitian. Kalau mau ingin banyak melakukan riset secara langsung, pendapatku sudah jelas: kabur 
IMO, kalau Mas…eh…Pak (
Dan ini juga cara yang disarankan oleh Pak Yohanes Surya kepada anak didik beliau para peserta Olimpiade Sains: berkaryalah di luar negeri (misal dengan menjadi Profesor di sana), lalu bawa pulang ilmunya ke Indonesia.
BTW aku tahu ada mantan dosen ITB yang sekarang lagi postdoc di Imperial College London. Ini linknya: [link]. Yah kali aja mau mengikuti jejak beliau
Wah sudah merencanakan karir ni ye ;;)
Kalo aku ke mana ya? Edinburgh, ETH Zurich, Stanford… :/
Kayanya aku lebih pantes deh. Jenggotku tumbuhnya cepat banget, dulu pernah sampe segini dalam 4 bulan
hmmm..suddenly i remember the conversation my mom had with my aunt that i overheard. They were talking about one of my aunty’s relative that change her citizenship after taking PhD in japan. And how they were so irritated by the fact that she was betraying our country..
and I was like..”oh,man. they really think so?” since I my self is actually considering to change my citizenship in like five years from now(yeah, as if its easy to do that..=p)
And ah, your suggestion has been in my mind since two years ago.
married an indonesia guy after I graduated from my bachelor degree, then two of us will go to aussie, or maybe a lovely country in europe, or even japan, to take master, then live happily ever after there.
And okey, do sorta things for humanity…hehe
I support world citizenship!!!
Sepakat sama Yohanes Surya, mungkin Indonesia kudu mulai berpikir soal kewarganegaraan ganda?
Dan penghasilan yang lebih baik untuk para pengajarnya.
@gentole
Kan? Kan?
@grace_05
Hehe…that’s it. To make the problem worse, they are your relatives (mother and aunt), figures that traditionally you have to put respect on, and I think it is not good too to have a clash with them.
Well, you can convince them, but it will not be easy.
BTW giving contribution to humanity is like beating Ultima Weapon, you know
BTW2, just to make proper balance, you can visit my friend’s blog here: [link], and you can read our discussion
It was when I was in Phase 3. Now I’m in Phase 4
@dnial
Hey, I have already supported this before you do!
Wah ga tau juga deh. Walaupun saya seneng-seneng aja kalo Indonesia memperbolehkan ini, saya ga tahu pertimbangan apa yang dulu dijadikan alasan untuk mengadopsi kewarganegaraan tunggal.
Jelas.
Dan dukungan riset untuk para dosen, seperti yang dikeluhkan Pak yan9n (FYI, beliau dosen)
Actually, even I and my mom had a conversation regarding this matter. we were joking though, we’d love to moving out the whole family to malay or maybe brunei (that time my mom was so sick about those “tsk, indonesia…indonesia”). And when we, jokingly, told my dad about our plan, he was pissed off and said things like “we’re indonesian, we born here, we live here, we work here and we’ll die here!”.
….and guess what?
Just couple days ago, i found him throwing out an after-used bottle from the window’s car, while driving, without even feel guilty!
guess some people are just bigtalk, aren’t they?
and the idea of proud being an indonesian is exist ocassionally afterall…
Indonesia…indonesia!
Wew…based on posts in your blog, I am not surprised your father cannot accept joke like that
But, yeah, attitude like this:
once made me want to change citizenship, when I was about in Phase 2.
Proud of being Indonesian? In my case, it arises rapidly only when there is a football or badminton competition to follow
Most of the time it’s just lukewarm, and my internationalist side tends to overgrow my nationalist side
BTW, you can try to place a small garbage bin inside your car, and see whether your father will reduce his bad habit. My parents do that, and it works well.
….i did.
My father stop the habit, but then my lil bro start to do that again. making excuses like “cant find the trash bin (I usually use plastic bag)” or “its just a small piece of tissue, dear sista”
and I had it enough when i no longer be able to control those ppl whose I dont have power toward them. Those people are kept littering everywhere as if its not a crime to do that. hell, yeah, it is!
*now i sounds like a weirdo, am I?*
*dan sok suci juga sekalian, mungkin*
(Ah Google Chrome sijalan, ga bisa ngopi smiley kaya Firefox)
It depends. If “weirdo” means someone whose attitude is not like what the majority of the people’s, then you are weirdo
But from my idealistic POV, no you are not. If I may say, Russian people commonly refer to this as “kemajon“, “terlalu maju” in Bahasa Indonesia.
Being “suci” and “sok suci” is also different.
Suci itu penyanyi dangdutA “sok suci” person is a hypocrite. What s/he does is different from what s/he speaks. You are not like that, aren’t you?
I can only say.
It takes time.
And effort.
(4-3-2, bagus ya susunannya
)
It seems like ignorance is a fixed attribute of Indonesian people, no?
Nevertheless, at least, when you have a kid, you can teach her/him not to litter
inggris lagi..
biarlah saya yang jawab pke bhs indon doang
btw, itu youtube nya di sini ga lncar, maklum koneksi pas-pasan. jadinya putus nyambung dan lamaaaaa bgt
klo dari judulnya sih, sy pengen coba pindah kewarganegaraan jadi jepang atau palestina ^^
Lagi mood Inggris sih
Boeng Ardianto djoega memberi respon memakai Bahasa
MelajoeIndon kokWell di sini saya ga lagi mencuci otak para pembaca buat ganti kewarganegaraan sih, tapi cuma membahas temen saya yang lagi ngadepin dilema ini, terus nulis +/- ganti kewarganegaraan
Kalau mau pindah silakan aja
well, as a zionist, being a citizen of a nation which doesn’t even acknowledge Israel, I guess you already knows where I stands for this matter.
Think that I want to contribute to humanity by destroying Iran, or Hamas (or FPI), my citizenship doesn’t suit me well.
But… I have many objections with anyone changing his/her sexual orientation, gender & species! LOLOLOL
BTW, why dont you change citizenship into Singaporean? AFAIK you will get military conscription (national service) as a bonus! Isn’t it great?
*dilempar gitar bas*
Then just convert to Israeli
*lempar 10 gitar bas*
Nah, as I said above, unless I can see better chance to achieve my goal (just like Anggun), I don’t want to change my citizenship. It’s tiresome
-_-
BTW, based on the Singaporean law, if I convert into Singaporean, I won’t need to take NS, but my descendants will have to.
whoaa… really, i was carried away with the way of your post
change the citizenship…, mmm… my dream
unfortunately, being hard up (the classic problem, huh!), change citizenship = blue rose for me, at least for now
Haha…
Now that you mention it, I realise that it is not easy too to convert citizenship
misiii…
if i may put my two cents in,
for me it’s about convenience.
i happen to have 2 passports. i have a u.s. citizenship and an indo citizenship. even though from an indonesian legal point, salah satu kewarganegaraan harus ditanggalkan. but you know, you can always screw the system. the secret is (and i found out the hard way) always extend your indonesian passport in indonesia. why? well…the system is more…”flexible”? or if you’re really desperate you could report to the closest embassy that you lost it.
the nice thing about having 2 passports is that it makes traveling easier. like you mentioned. i dont get too many questions at immigration. which is nice.
another thing is that in the US, i’m eligible for student/federal loans. which is convenient when you don’t have money and you’re stats are average or below average. but then again its sort of like selling your soul to satan (you end up living in debt and having to pay it back for a thousand years).
hey when you get that scandinavian passport let me know.
Mangga pinarak Mbak…
(mari masuk Mbak)
You can give me USD 100 millions if you want
I didn’t know that this can happen before!
Thank you for sharing.
It was just a sudden plan when I was *way* too disappointed with Indonesia, but now I don’t intend to have another passport.
However, if someday I acquire it (or any other citizenships) I will let you know.