F

rom the man who proposed temporary marriages to promote tourism, comes another brilliant proposal for the nation to save Indonesia'€™s children!

The solution is very simple: Reduce women'€™s working time by two hours each day so that they can rush home and cram in some mother-child interaction.

This will surely make up for any negative effects of mothers working outside the home!

Wow! Why did no one ever think of that before? Who is this brilliant man? He should be leading the nation!

Think of all the amazingly simple solutions he could come up with for the myriad and intractable problems Indonesia is facing!

Errr'€¦ he is leading the nation. In fact, he'€™s Indonesia'€™s number two head honcho.

Yes, he'€™s none other than Jusuf Kalla, our most esteemed 72-year-old Vice President!

Let me remind you about the temporary marriage episode. In 2006, in a symposium on tourism from the Middle East, Kalla (VP to then president Yudhoyono) suggested to promote the many young janda (divorcees) in Puncak, a hillside resort outside of Jakarta, to Middle Eastern male tourists.

They could engage in mu'€™tah, a short-term marriage recognized by Shia Islam.

'€œIf the janda get modest homes even if the tourists later leave them, then it'€™s OK. The children resulting from these relationships will have good genes.

'€œThere will be more television actors and actresses from these pretty boys and girls,'€ he said ('€œVP moots using women in Arab tourism push,'€ The Jakarta Post, June 29, 2006).

Brilliant no? In one fell swoop, Kalla solves Indonesia'€™s long-running economic crisis with his exciting economic initiative that gives lots of added benefits to the
janda and their fatherless offspring (well, the Arab men would leave, since they'€™re temporary marriages after all).

Putting my sarcasm aside, it'€™s not hard to understand why women activists and many others got so riled up by Kalla'€™s proposal because mu'€™tah, of course, is thinly veiled prostitution. And the VP endorsed it.

Kalla later apologized if he had caused offense, but also said that his statement had been misunderstood. Right.

Apology notwithstanding, the fact that he said what he did clearly establishes his male chauvinist credentials. And what makes him an expert on child rearing anyway?

The fact that he has five children and 10 grandchildren? Amazing that he doesn'€™t know that parenting is also the responsibility of the father.

Unwittingly, Kalla is putting men down, as if they are incapable of bringing children up. Studies show that parenting by both mother and father is what makes a positive impact on children.

Studies also show that stay-at-home mums are not necessarily better for the kids. If she'€™s unhappy with her life, she can'€™t have a positive influence on them.

On the other hand, a working mother who is fulfilled and has a sense of accomplishment through her work can serve as a good role model for the children.

They can also teach their children time management, skills they would otherwise not have, good work ethics and independence.

Working mothers spend more quality time with their children who actually look forward to seeing their mothers, as opposed to kids of stay-at-home moms whose children take their presence for granted.

Obviously, these are not things that Kalla bothered to look into as he was just making a political statement of no substance.

Kalla'€™s suggestion smacks so much of the New Order (Orba) gender ideology of state ibuism and the notion of housewifization, whereby women are relegated to the domestic sphere and controlled by the dictates of the patriarchal state.

But then, Kalla is an Orba guy and an old guy at that '€” what do you expect?

Kalla'€™s suggestion was for women civil servants (PNS), so let'€™s see how it would work in this group.

According to a study of 34 ministries conducted by the Center for Political Studies (Puskapol) of the University of Indonesia, the number of women PNS at the lower echelons is about the same as that of their male counterparts.

PNS who hold structural positions make up 5.8 percent, of which women make up only 22.38 percent.

Imbalanced or what? And Kalla wants to make the odds even harder for women by reducing their working hours and income as well?

Kalla'€™s suggestion, while reductionist, simplistic and discriminatory, has traction in a society that is fundamentally traditional.

Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi said it would be the wise and humane thing to do to allow women to give more attention to their (small) children.

Siti Nurlaila from the Human Rights Commission also reacted positively, saying that women'€™s total work time in the office and home could be as long as 16 hours. Hey bu Natalia, how about getting men to do some of the so-called '€œwomen'€™s work'€?

What really makes an enormous difference is childcare quality which should be the state'€™s responsibility. Providing good childcare is much harder than moralizing about how women should behave.

The state should create strict laws that oblige corporations to provide childcare facilities.

Companies could also allow for flexitime, for the fathers too, who can take turns with the mothers to fulfill their parenting responsibilities.

The fact of the matter is that the well-being of a child is the sum total of a number of very complex issues. How about improving Indonesia'€™s poor education, health and social welfare systems for starters?

What is worrying about Kalla'€™s statement is also that it is an indicator of the new Jokowi administration being infiltrated by regressive elements.

Kalla'€™s proposal is a simplistic and reactionary New Order attempt at addressing the very complex issue of the future of the nation: children.

How will they treat other similarly complex issues such human rights, legal reform, Papua and the death penalty?

Is Kalla'€™s '€œtwo-hour solution'€ an indicator of things to come in Jokowi'€™s administration that offered so much hope at the beginning?