Khairiyah Al-Saggaf Al-Jazirah Indonesian President JokoWidodo recently called for a ban on sending female citizens to work as domestic workers in foreign countries. He described this measure as a way to preserve Indonesian women's pride and dignity. The president has directed the concerned minister to come up with a clear roadmap on when the country can stop sending female domestic workers abroad. The reason for not sending domestic help abroad seems to be a logical and noble one as it aims at safeguarding the dignity and self-respect of its citizens, in addition to boosting their confidence in engaging in work to support their families instead of contributing to their country's growth and development through earning foreign money. It also helps to strengthen their individual freedom within society. There is no doubt that Indonesian domestic workers, including housemaids and drivers, have an excellent history of rendering sincere services in our households. They have become part and parcel of our households and enjoy great relations with family members, especially children. The Indonesian government wants the return of its domestic workers with a noble objective of preserving their dignity and nobody can question the true intentions behind this. The consequences of implementing this decision will be far reaching as far as the Saudi and other Gulf communities are concerned. These communities are the major beneficiaries of Indonesian domestic help for several decades. In our country, relations between domestic workers and their employers continue to remain cordial, respectful and appreciable. Of course, there might have been some exceptions to this and in such cases, the erring housemaids and employers have to face penal actions. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, and Saudi Arabia maintain strong bilateral relations. When I went through the words of the Indonesian president, I realized it was high time for us to have a thorough review of how we handle our domestic affairs and identify our priorities. Perhaps, we need smaller houses and less luxury. We also need collective efforts and cooperation of family members in running household affairs and meeting requirements of family members. We may need to downsize our lives; less clothes, furniture, kitchen utensils and the like. We need to review how often we want our clothes washed and houses cleaned. It would be ideal if we can receive training to achieve some level of self-reliance in doing chores. Perhaps, reducing the number of rooms we have in our houses would be a good step so that we can become accustomed to living in simple facilities to cope with any future eventualities in the absence of domestic workers. We may have to dispense with big gardens, multipurpose giant store rooms, as well as the number of cars and parking areas. I emphasize this aspect because of the fact that we are not at all accustomed to living with such an anticipated environment and lifestyle. Moreover, we have to show equal and gentle treatment to all domestic workers, many of who have been serving us since childhood. Under any circumstances, if the Indonesian president translates his words into action and deprives us of help from his female citizens, we will certainly lose big time the services of such a sincere and hardworking people. Our loss will be colossal and hence, we have to appreciate their devoted services to us and our children.