I

would like to respond to a comment made by Paolo L. Scalpini, published in The Jakarta Post on July 28, on Mulders' opinion of tourism in Indonesia.

First of all, living in an Indonesian village - anywhere in Indonesia - can hardly be seen as a "neocolonial lifestyle" considering the major underdevelopment rural Indonesia still faces today. To mention a few: poor quality water supplies, electricity outages, the low standard of food hygiene and overcurious villagers.

Your assumptive comments about Dutch tourist/nationals in Indonesia and beyond can easily be applied to almost any other nationality.

Perhaps this was the real reason why Garuda Indonesia eventually stopped the Jakarta to Amsterdam route in the late nineties: Protecting their fellow Indonesians against those Dutch neocolonial tourists. Or was it because Indonesia was not sellable anymore as a tourist destination due to bad press and the like?

Crime, prostitution, terrorism, drugs, pollution and environmental damage were already present in Indonesia long before the country was discovered as a tourism destination.

One of the reasons why the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta does not shower Indonesians with three-month social visas is because Europe has a serious illegal immigration issue. There have been thousands of Indonesians over the years not leaving the Netherlands after their visas expire.

I don't blame them, personally: The Netherlands, as well as other European countries, have a higher standard of living than Indonesia.

It's not that difficult for these illegal people to find employment in various Indonesian restaurants, as the Netherlands has a large community of people of Indonesian descent.

Residing illegally, Indonesians will hardly be noticed unless they commit a crime, and the euros they make help their families back home.

The Netherlands does actually grant a three-month social visa to Indonesian nationals after a successful interview, Dutch nationals who want to come to Indonesia get a 30-day visa on arrival only, which is not extendable.

Malaysia gives most European passport holders a free three-month social visa. As you may have read in the Indonesian media, Malaysia also has a serious illegal immigration problem and thousands of Indonesians have already been deported. Unless Indonesia is serious about developing itself and raising the standard of living for all Indonesians, it will remain difficult for Indonesians to go abroad outside the ASEAN countries.

Since Mulders found out the hard way that after five years he is seen as an unwelcome guest in Indonesia, I am positive he will eventually apply for the Malaysian second home program. Unlike Indonesia with its antiforeigner residential and investment laws, Malaysia welcomes foreign potential investors and retirees with open arms.

Malaysia also receives up to 21 million foreign tourists per year, Indonesia - which actually has a lot more to offer than Malaysia - not even seven million. If a country wants to attract foreign investment, you need to make foreign guests feel welcome to come and stay. The bomb attacks in Bali and Jakarta show just how welcome foreign tourists and investors are here.

Tourism could be one of the pillars of the Indonesian economy, especially in rural areas.

It actually benefits low-income groups, especially here in Aceh, as it is a labor-intensive industry. However, underpaid jobs are caused by labor laws not being properly enforced by government authorities; one cannot blame tourists for that. Again, if guests from overseas feel welcome, they will feel no need to go to other destinations. Many repeat visitors go to Bali each year. Aceh welcomes foreign visitors with open arms.