Here come the Yummies climbing the ladder of life

By Sarasvati

JAKARTA (JP): As an area sales manager for a steel distributing firm, Barito Riviera, 29, travels across the country for at least a quarter of the month to broker multi-billion rupiah deals and meet prospective clients.

As an ordinary, fun-seeking young man, he gives punctuation to life by giving diving lessons on the weekends and guiding dive trips in nearby waters.

Across the city from his office in Central Jakarta, Linda Mangunsong takes ballroom dancing and interior design lessons to fill her spare time, when she is not working.

At 33, she is already the managing director for U.K.-based information technology consulting firm Sapora, earning as much as Rp 500 million annually.

On the resort island of Bali, Adhi, runs his own architectural consulting firm. He does not do the ground work anymore; he has long handed over the pencil and drawing table to his staff.

The 26-year-old now mainly leads daily meetings with his staff, checks on their work progress, and surfs the net to look at the latest building designs. A considerable part of his time is also spent on lobbying or mixing in the local business scene to get his company's name out there."

What do these people have in common aside from sharing common demographics?

They are young and upcoming professionals, making their way up the ladder of the white-collar world.

But don't call them yuppies; they may bark.

The term has been tainted with self-destructive materialism associated with the western world's 1980s, and by Jakarta's amphetamine-boosted executives in the 1990's.

Move over egocentric yuppies! Here comes the YUMMIES, the acronym which best describes them; a shortened form of "young upward mobile modern independent elite singles".

Based on a series of interviews with several young professionals between 25 and 35 years old, The Jakarta Post sees the emergence of unique voices, increasingly assertive traits, and a daring risk-taking capacity in these individuals.

With the sensibility of world citizens, they have an inexhaustible desire for continuous learning and, of course, a penchant for fun.

This group does not represent millions of their other contemporaries across the archipelago, some of whom are struggling to make ends meet in the rural areas.

But they are emerging as the country's decision makers and many have achieved much more than their parents at their age.

A survey by AC Nielsen Indonesia shows that only 4 percent of the 7,493 people it interviewed in nine cities in the country make Rp 1.5 million and over in a month. Most still bring home between Rp 350,000 and Rp 500,000.

The young professionals the Post talked to have net earnings of between Rp 3 million to as much as Rp 35 million a month.

But then again money is not necessarily the main thing to them.

Work

Entering their mid 20's most people belonging to this peer group have finished their college degrees and have a full-time job.

"They are making their own corner in life, carving their own place at this age," said psychologist Joyce Gordon, who deals with a lot of young people.

"Some get instant success as their parents are more than happy to help them get a job, while some may have to work harder," she said.

Many who come from upper-middle class families may get their education abroad, and are just beginning to return home to start their first job.

Most overseas graduates generally find it easier to get better jobs with better pay upon their return home than their locally educated peers. One advantage is that they normally finish school sooner than those studying at home.

Syarifah Aidit is one of the early bloomers.

By 22 years of age, two years younger than her peers in Indonesia, she had finished her undergraduate degree from a university in Canberra, Australia, and had moved back home to start her first job at an advertising agency.

At 24, she is now a marketing manager for removals and relocation company Global Silver Hawk, making about US$1,100 a month, or four to five times higher than a person with her age and experience usually gets here.

Linda started her job about the same time. She was still working on her thesis for a biology degree from a private university in Jakarta, when she got her first job as a foreign exchange dealer. That lasted only three months.

Then, with problems at school, she abandoned the pursuit of the diploma, and moved to become an executive secretary for a marine tour operator for a year and a half.

"I was not planning on working as a secretary, but I knew then that the best way to learn about managing a company was by being a secretary."

But she was at the time so shy and incapable of expressing her thoughts that she decided to take an "effective communication and interpersonal relations" course at an institute in Jakarta, where she eventually worked part-time as an assistant instructor.

Looking at her now, a well-rounded independent woman confidently elucidating her views, one could hardly picture the young Linda, shying away from her school friends to read her father's philosophy books in North Sumatra, where she was raised on a plantation home.

After gaining the desired knowledge of communication, Linda left the company and did a string of stints at various companies, from Sonny to cigarette producer Bentoel, as executive secretary.

She took another course in public relations then moved on to become a PR executive, before eventually became a marketing manager at information technology companies Oracle and German- based SAP.

She has gone a long way, from her first job (Rp 250,000 a month plus commission) to the latest one in Sapora which she landed last year.

While people from their previous generation opt to work for one company for a long time -- sometimes even until they retire -- for stability and to wallow in the familiarity of it, there is the sense that this generation sees life as a sea of opportunities that they must dive into if they do not want to be left behind.

Rather than adopting their parent's value of endurance at work, they rarely put up with jobs that give them less than what they want financially, intellectually or emotionally.

In almost all fields of industry -- from retail goods, finance, communications to the media -- the career-minded youngsters often raise eyebrows of their current employers and older co-workers, who brand them "ungrateful or disloyal" for their knack of job-hopping.

Their motivation can be material, but it can also be as abstract as soul searching.

As one talented young man, who decided to accept a pay cut when he leaves his current profession for a film company, puts it: "I'm only chasing my dreams."

Adhi started his architectural career in Jakarta, where he also studied, as a designer in a property consulting firm for three years. He decided that the competition was too tight in the capital and rather than being a small fish in a big pond, he chose to look for another pond.

"In my previous office, I saw how senior architects were valued as ordinary staff or designers. I didn't want to end up like them," he said.

With his college friends, he then explored the business in Bali before starting his own from scratch.

"Many young businessmen start here, Bali is a truly great place to learn business."

Those who are happy enough where they are may just be getting the right money and perks.

For 28-year-old Maya, one of the Human Resources executives in an international electronic company, this could be the case as not only is she getting good pay (between Rp 10 to 15 million), but also free continuing education every time her company sends her for studies abroad in Japan, Australia and the Netherlands.

"I worked hard for this position, and am proud to have it," she said.

Some although they know that they are being undervalued in their current job, something holds them back.

For one young man, it is the fact that he is learning the business and building a network to prepare for the day when he runs his own business.

Play

In the new economy, workaholism has an antiquated ring to it that gives the progressive mind the creeps. Suits and ties have been exchanged for a pair of GAP khakis, and the office is no longer a high-rise in the middle of a business district but a cozy study in one's home.

Although the economy is slowly picking up in Indonesia, and most still work at the office instead of from home, its young players know how to work and play hard.

Trendy bars like Jamz, Retro, or the latest, Skybar, are some of the favorite hangouts for those with an ear for top-40's live bands.

For conversation over a cup of coffee or dinner there are Dome that stays open later than most other coffee establishments, the stylish Sina Bar and the comforting Twilight cafe, where they can still hear one another talking while a violin and piano play in the background.

Many of the young professionals especially those who live in the suburbs prefer spending a couple of hours at these establishments after work rather than braving the rush-hour traffic home.

And for those living in the city, like Syarifah who stays in a boarding house in Central Jakarta, going out at night beats watching trashy TV programs in their rooms.

Even those who do not enjoy loud music find that they cannot really avoid it.

"Although I would rather stay home reading in my warm bed, I have to entertain my business acquaintances or old friends who visit Bali," said Adhi. He spends about Rp 3 million a month on entertaining.

In the dense capital, those with a bit more taste for the outdoors enjoy new and exhilarating kinds of recreational sports like white-water rafting, scuba diving or the city-slicker's version of physical competition, "war games".

Barito, who studied machine engineering at the University of Indonesia, began diving when he was a member of the campus' outdoor adventure group Mapala. So addicted is he to the underwater life that most of his salary is now spent on diving trips or buying expensive diving equipment.

He has dived in some of the best sites in the country in North Sulawesi and Bali. So far it has not burdened him financially -- he is single and has only himself to support.

"I realize that I will probably have to cut down on diving and start saving some serious money if I want to get ahead," he said.

For many, shopping is still the most favorite past time. Many of the brand-conscious spend much of their earnings on clothing.

Unlike the dazed and rich 90's yuppies, who helped made the Indonesian version of crystal-meth or shabu-shabu a household name with their wild weekend parties, their younger contemporaries tend to stay away from heavy drug consumption.

Many have had their try of drugs, but most think it is a waste of time and brains.

"I tried some pills at high school just out of curiosity," said Adhi.

"I have a lot of friends who use drugs, but that's their decision, I don't get anything from drugs," he adds.

But their tolerance for alcohol has increased, even for women, who in past decades would be considered loose if they were seen with a glass of alcoholic drink in their hands in public.

Home

They are cosmopolitan and technology savvy, they pepper their sentences with English words, they make their own financial decisions and some of them think virginity is obsolete.

But when it comes to a common denominator, they are still bound by the unwritten rules observed by a society that puts family values above all else.

Barito, the older of two children, feels obliged to live with his parents and sister although he would rather live by himself.

Despite his age, his career, and his outdoors adventure experiences, his parents impose a strict rule. They do not give him the key to the house, and call him frequently at night when he is out to inquire about his whereabouts.

"It gets annoying, but I am used to it. They only want to know where I am," he said.

Linda lives in her own home in South Jakarta, but each time she visits her parents in Medan, North Sumatra, she cannot help but feel frustrated when communicating with her mother.

There is what she calls "a generational values gap" that she finds hard to bridge.

An illustration of this is when her aunts tried to match her with a flashy middle-ranking, young police officer in Medan who drove the latest Mercedes Benz and owned several properties.

"They were awed at how successful he was, and how he was perfect marriage material, but my mind keeps going, 'he must be so corrupt', and 'how am I going to introduce him to my friends?'" she said.

Despite being more liberated, they appear to be grounded enough to accept that certain realities prevail. When dealing with issues like sex, for example, the rule of thumb is always not to tell the truth.

"I believe that most of my peers, like me, were no longer virgins when they were married, but this kind of thing is better kept secret from our parents," said one woman who requested anonymity in exchange for this comment.

And although it is true that people get married much later in life now than in previous eras, pressure from their families continue.

The difference now may be that they are more able to ignore the inquiries and convince their parents that it is better for them to stay single for the time being.

Being young and successful does not make them problem-free.

The rapid pace at which they live, daily work loads and tight deadlines, the continuous yearning for achievement, inability to find a "compatible" partner for successful young women and the less quality time for themselves or their family make them prone to restlessness at a much younger age than previous generations.

Depression, alienation, loneliness, insomnia, and psychosomatic illnesses are some of the outcomes of this urban malady. Some survivors look for enlightenment from self-help books, while others, with their childhood faith still intact, find peace in religion.

"Religion to me is a fundamental guidance in life," said Barito, who tries to attend a church every Sunday when he is at home.

Like a miniature version of Indonesia -- a young nation erratically experiencing newly-gained political freedom -- this generation sometimes gets lost in the perplexing jungle of adulthood: a contradicting world of modern versus traditional, the West versus the East, women versus men, marriage versus bachelorhood, economy versus creativity, diplomacy versus honesty.

But at the end of the day, many will chose to resolve the dilemma themselves instead of having it dictated by their parents.

For these blooming professionals, whichever way they turn, life is still young and offers enough surprises to excite them like Pandora's box waiting to be opened.