Warped between the ideal and reality: Laws and the labour in Indonesia

Cross border employments may not just be economically beneficial to the source countries. They can also pose adverse issues and challenges. Indonesian labourers (TKI) wishing to go abroad are indeed governed by the labour laws that have been enacted by the Government. However, candidates often have to deal with informal agents. Both of these institutions have different position and influence. This article sought to analyze, by means of an interpretivist paradigm, how the Indonesian government as the superior governance structure attempts to regulate and control the admission and placement processes of Indonesian workers in the host country. The analysis was focused on the Indonesian immigration and labour laws as well as the TKI’s responses to them as they were enacted. A total of 11 TKIs who had already been staying in Malaysia had participated in a series of in-depth interviews during the course of this study. The results showed that there existed a real gap between what is ideal in accordance to the laws and the reality that took place in Indonesia. Informal agents became a popular choice among Indonesian workers because of their overall management flexibility.