Appreciate local teachers

Appreciate local teachers

From Media Indonesia

I would like to refer to a report in Suara Karya on Aug. 23 titled The Bengkalis local administration pays teachers from Malaysia Rp 8 million per month/person, in which it was mentioned that Malaysian teachers work as tutors.

My comment is: Don't we have teachers, lecturers or experts just as good as the teachers coming from Malaysia? It would be more beneficial if the Rp 8 million per month/teacher was paid to a teacher from Riau province or from other provinces within Indonesia. This would make our own people more prosperous; thus our money would not be wasted on foreigners.

Apart from embarrassing, the Bengkalis local administration appears to be throwing away funds from the local administration budget (APBD) and enriching only foreigners, while not appreciating our own people and regarding them as inferior in quality.

The kind of mentality that worships everything foreign -- which is the New Order style -- should be eradicated. It would be better to utilize our own people, including those educated in the USA or Europe, than bring people in from Malaysia or any other country.

ABDULLAH HAMID

Jakarta