tales from home

Came back from a (not too) short trip back home, to attend my brother’s wedding (I have three of them, so this was the last one...fiuh...).
The wedding and all the reception and ceremonies went along beautifully.
Got a chance to meet up with the many relatives, tasted all the different types of food that weddings usually make available ;), and spent some very good quality time with my family, (yes, him included ;)

And the two weeks passed so fast...
Am now caught up (again) with the many readings, assignments and deadlines.

Experienced a pretty interesting trip on my return here to Singapore.
Instead of flying back to Singapore straight from the capital city, I went through Batam instead, to catch a ferry to Singapore. I used the same route travelling home to Jakarta for this trip.
Well, it is a policy that Indonesians are to pay an exit tax (yes, an EXIT tax) when we leave the country, unless, your ID was issued from particular provinces (that allow their citizens to waive the tax).

Now the tax through Batam is half the fee in Jakarta (yes, this is an official rate). And apparently it is very common that in the airports people are approached by ‘middle-men’ (we call them ‘calo’) who offer their ‘services’ so that you don’t have to pay the full rate (this is available both in Jakarta and Batam airports).
Though I've heard stories, I’ve never experienced this my self in Jakarta; but in Batam this seems to be even more common. I didn’t realize how common it was until I tried to pay the (official) tax there. As I was approaching the tax booth, I was a bit surprised that the officer wasn’t very enthusiastic to process my passport. (I had actually declined one ‘calo’ when I was walking up to the counter), I even had to ask this officer to take the passport, which then was told that I’m supposed to photocopy my passport first, and this photocopy place apparently is placed under the staircase, some meters away from the Tax Counter.

Go figure, you have all these ‘calo’s swarming around, looking for people to ‘help’, and a counter actually providing all the ‘pre-conditions’ required. I wonder what 'policy' the government was actually trying to implement there...

Turns out, these calos were pretty desperate since not everyone crossing over needed to pay the tax (most likely only non-Sumatran citizens, sucj as those from Java, Bali and other islands). Even when you check in to get to the ferry, the booth for ‘fiscal/tax check’ looked hidden and a bit abandoned (atleast in Jakarta everyone flying out of the country needs to go through this booth before boarding).
It was as if you needed a really huge sense of ‘tax-paying motivation’ to go through the whole process...hmmm very interesting.
So its no surprise that these 'non-taxed' provinces all of a sudden have a rise in population (some people would even have double IDs for these provinces), and that this 'calo' practice becomes a pretty lucrative business....

I personally do not agree with the whole 'exit tax policy'...as it seems absurd and and more of a preemptive measure from keeping less-rich citizens to go abroad (as the the tax is on an a fixed amount figure; sometimes even the same price as airline tickets to neighboring ASEAN countries) than an income generating post for the government. Plus the fact that most of this 'tax revenue' gets lost through the process anyways (either by the use of 'calo's or the possible corruption that hinder the system to profit from the policy). Frankly I think this policy serves as 'bad publicity' of government intention to 'support' its people.
There have been talks about abolishing it, but no firm action/decision has even been taken.

Anyways....
Arrived in Singapore safe and sound (nearly sea-sick from the ferry though :P), around 7pm. Had roasted chicken rice in Harbour Front...which I thought was a very nice ‘welcoming meal’ (especially knowing I'd have a hard time getting dinner if I didn't have it there), then headed home, knowing the ‘real world’ was waiting to greet me.
Well, a small note in a blog seemed like a good way to end the night, as tomorrow I have a morning class.

It’s definitely good to be back,... ;)

-moenlite-

*picture:
Going home, [moenlite]