Expatriates<\/p>\n
When I read the last edition of the Sunday Post on Feb. 15:
\nExpatriates set sail as economy sinks, I felt a strong urge to
\ncomment on some of the rather shortsighted statements with
\nregards to the expatriates working in Indonesia, obviously with
\nno other purpose than of bleeding the country dry of its foreign
\nexchange.<\/p>\n
When an expatriate is sent by his company to work in Indonesia
\nit is usually because this company is engaged in business in
\nIndonesia. That means, that they want to have a certain amount of
\ncontrol and technical or commercial expertise to safeguard their
\ninvestment in the country. Yes, believe it or not, these
\ncompanies invest in Indonesia and not only for their benefit,
\nthere a long list of people who benefit as well. There are
\ncommissioners, local employees who have a job and a salary, which
\nsupports their families and provides for food and education for
\ntheir children and often enough other relatives.<\/p>\n
Expatriates rent houses, sometimes at quite horrendous prices
\n-- in US dollars by the way, they employ household help for whom
\nthis provides a way out of poverty and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n
Expatriates go to supermarkets, shops, restaurants, hotels,
\nthey travel through the country etc., in one word, they spend
\nmoney that again maintains whole industries.<\/p>\n
So to just say "good riddance" when more than 60 percent of
\nthe expatriates have left the country is perhaps a bit hasty, to
\nsay the least, as it will also involve a lot of Indonesians
\nlosing their jobs and slipping on the social ladder again as
\ntheir government does not provide for them in a sufficient
\nmanner.<\/p>\n
Having also read Bill Guerin's letter on editing by the Post,
\nI can only confirm his findings as I, too, have had some recent
\nexperiences where the printed end result bore no resemblance to
\nwhat I initially submitted for printing, which made me feel like
\nan idiot, especially as people who know me, could not know that I
\nactually did not contribute the rubbish finally printed in my
\nname.<\/p>\n
Written complaints and requests for printing the correct
\nversion only resulted in some hardly understandable explanations
\non my answering machine, which did not help me much with the
\ndamage done already.<\/p>\n
ROLAND WOEHRLE<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/expatriates-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }