http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/blogs/on-being-a-second-class-customer-in-your-own-country/564978
January 08, 2013 | by Pangeran Siahaan On Being a Second-Class Customer In Your Own Country Australian tourists dance in a cafe in Bali in this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo. Cheap airfares, strong international currency and close proximity to the land Down Under make Bali the perfect getaway for Australian tourists. (JG Photo/Abdul Qowi Bastian). Last month, media personality and former TV journalist Marischka Prudence tweeted about her inconvenient experience at a resort's restaurant in Bali. Prue, as she's affectionately known, was ordering drinks at the bar before the waitress said in an unpleasant manner that the patrons of the place usually order food as well and suggested that if drinks were only the thing she’s looking for, she's better off somewhere else. Prue was actually going to move inside the restaurant to dine before the waitress violated the golden rule of hospitality industry of not underestimating the customers. She was understandably irritated by the treatment she got and left shortly in steaming anger. As a person who travels a lot, Prue reckoned that the only reason of her being mistreated was being a local tourist in a popular destination for international visitors. If a person who regularly appears on TV like Prue (although apparently not famous enough to be known by the ignorant waitress) was still seen as a second-class customer who couldn't afford the food, what chance do other people got? That is not the first time you hear that kind of stories, and Bali could provide you a lot of some experiences from badly-treated local customers. The notorious nightclubs on Legian street are known to have ethnicity-based door policies. Free entry for all international tourists, but if you’re locals, you have to be frisked at the door and charged with a first drink ticket. The banner hanging on the wall said "international," but I’m sure what they mean is more than that since my American-Hispanic friend was stopped at the door. I suspect the reason is because she didn't really look "international" to the bouncers. Why the different treatment? Simply because if you’re locals, they think you’re not going spend your money inside the joint and only present for cheap entertainment: staring at foreign tourists having fun. In other words, if you’re locals, they think you’re poor. Of course there’s a lot of places in Bali that welcome all tourists impartially, but different treatment to locals is a general theme you can always spot on. You can tell how different you’re being treated if the waiters take a longer time to serve you while other customers are being served like royals. Similar treatments can also be found in Jakarta. There’s this one restaurant and cafe in Senayan, South Jakarta whose name actually suggests it’s the place for people to unite in a warm and heartfelt ambience, but the service is far from that. I tried to reserve a table by phone but whoever that was at the other end of the line said that all tables had been booked. Out of curiosity, I called again a few minutes later and this time I was speaking in English. Unsurprisingly, I was told that some tables were still available and asked about my arrival time. I’ve stopped going to that cafe since then. Some people try to argue that the difference in treatment is because that foreign customers treat the waiters better than the locals do. I don't put the fact aside that locals don't tip as much as it’s not the custom here since most of the times the price we pay includes service tax. But that’s not a reason to be drowned in prejudice and start treating locals as second-class customers. I sense there’s something bigger to it. The ludicrous experience of being denied a table in a cafe because Indonesian language tells me that the source of the problem lies deeper. It’s an inferiority complex. If they speak English, then they have more cash to spend than those who don't. If they’re "internationals," then they must be better patrons than those who are locals. That’s a mindset that has been carved on head of these people. I’m not a xenophobe and it would be highly ridiculous to bring down this debate to xenophobic issue. I believe the problem is not in these foreigners who’s been perceived as better patrons. Most of them are respectful to the locals. The problem is in the Indonesian people themselves who perceive the locals as inferior to the foreigners. Is it a result of post-colonial mentality? I don't know, but as long as the difference between getting a table is do I speak English or not, I know something is not right [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
