Be proud of yourself

Be proud of yourself

I refer to the letter of Fenty Ang (an Indonesian student in
Singapore) that appeared in The Jakarta Post on April 23 and felt
sorry for her having such a low opinion about her country
and its people.

I have lived in Indonesia for about 12 years, mainly in
Surabaya and Jakarta working in three private enterprises mainly
connected to making, shaping and treating of steel. Two of the
three are industrial units employing 600 to 700 blue and white
collar workers.

I have travailed all over the world except the Australian
continent and have seen workers of many Asian, European and
American (and, of course, Indian) steel plants. And I find that
Indonesian workers are second to none. They are hard-working,
sincere and knowledgeable and do not need constant supervision.
Though small-built, they pack surprisingly superb strength,
stamina and staying power. They do not need to be continuously
supervised and have a good work ethic.

I feel that if any one has let down this great country, a
volcano of talent, capability and enormous natural resources, it
is the elite class of this country.

Fenty Ang was humiliated by her teacher about the lack of
skills of Indonesian workers in the IT area. She can now proudly
tell her "arrogant" Singaporean teacher that recently two
Indonesians won the international competition in software
competence conducted by Google India for Southeast Asia in
Bangalore beating all nationalities including Singaporeans!

I always tell my colleagues in my factory in East Jakarta to
feel proud of their people, its products and its capabilities and
talents. I think Indonesia is a sleeping giant who is showing
signs of waking up and its new leadership with an emphasis on
eradicating corruption is sure to give them a shot in the arm.

In addition to that the Indonesian government should make
really good proficiency in English language a compulsory part of
their educational system. I have seen my Indonesian colleagues
getting mighty nervous if they have to write a letter to
suppliers in English and, more often than not, they end up making
a telephone call to register a complaint with
no paper trail to follow up if nothing is done by the supplier to
redress the complaint.

Come on, Indonesia! You are a great country. Feel proud about
yourself and your country and never underestimate yourself!

K. B. KALE
Jakarta