INDONESIA: Line Dancing, Ageism, Sexism - Combine ’Em All and You’re a Goner!

. JAKARTA, Indonesia / The Jakarta Globe / Opinion / April 9, 2009 Piece of Mind By Roswita Nimpuno Khaiyath You just follow the steps, Ibu. Don’t think about you age!” the pretty, slim dance instructor said. “I am only 55!” my friend exclaimed. “Still, you don’t have to feel bad. Just enjoy,” was the reply. My friend made a face. Was it the jumping? Maybe the quick cha-cha-cha’s? The strenuous long-stepped samba or simply because I had never been line dancing in Indonesia before? Line dancing is great exercise, something we miss in Jakarta. Try walking on the non-existent sidewalks or bike riding on the crowded roads. Line dancing is like a party in a pub, which is where these classes are usually held. Years ago when I was in New Orleans and line dancing was the rage, I enjoyed it because the steps were easy. This way of dancing without a partner was later mimicked by the Indonesian rage for “poco-poco,” and overseas Indonesians often bonded at embassy or consulate get-togethers by dancing the poco-poco. In a country where the young are taught to display deep respect for age and look after elderly relatives, one can often feel lucky about growing old. But, I also notice that once one is past the age of 50, or kepala lima as we say in Bahasa Indonesia to stress the beginning of the dreaded sixth decade, most Indonesians expect these people suddenly considered “old” to do precisely that — feel lucky to be old, respected and looked after. In other words, they are expected to relax and not do the things that younger people do. Applying for a job in Indonesia after age 50, for instance, is as impossible as flying to the moon. In the Netherlands a few years ago, a movement to return older people to the workforce from retirement proved very successful. With most younger employees having university degrees but little experience, the return of older folks to the workforce provided a useful balance and a way to pass on vital experience. In England, where strict labor laws protect people from age discrimination, Margaret Keane, a 50-year-old British woman, was granted more than $230,000 in damages after claiming she was refused a series of jobs because of her age. She reportedly filled out a series of job applications at chartered accountancy firms and in most cases followed up a fortnight later with phone calls demanding to know why she had not been hired. Despite being given a range of explanations — which included the fact that she did not have an appropriate degree — she immediately set about putting together a number of age discrimination claims. Because she had applied only for jobs wanting recent graduates, she argued that the companies were hoping to “attract younger and exclude older candidates.” In cultures where women outlive men and children are not bound to care for the older generation, elderly women are proud to fend for themselves. My 84-year-old mother, who lives in Holland, does her own shopping, walks in parks and cleans her own apartment. So imagine my annoyance every time someone asks, “‘Ibu, don’t you have a maid?” just because I clean our little Jakarta apartment by myself. If I can clean our two-story, four-bedroom house in Australia, this apartment is a piece of cake. And it provides some exercise. Many women in Western countries work until they are in their late 60s, while in Indonesia there seems to be an unwritten rule that Ibu should stop working after 50. But my gray-haired and tired-looking husband is forever asked where he works. And just looking around my apartment block, there are more and more gray-brigade men in their 50s and 60s parading around their very young wives while carrying their infant offspring. If a woman over 50 was to do the same, an Indonesian would immediately ask, “Is that your grandchild?” But back to the line dancing and the numerous new steps I have to master and brag about to my tired husband when he gets home from 14-hour days in the salt mine. How we envy each other! Right now I think both of us would like to go back to long bike rides along the calm waters of Glenelg Beach in Australia. Copyright 2009 The Jakarta Globe