Indonesian engineers in Germany living it up

BRAUNSCHWEIG, Germany (JP): Indonesian engineers living in Germany receive good income which allows them to enjoy a decent lifestyle.

Priyatna Surawijaya, a post-doctorate student who works in a research institute and teaches at a university, earns around DM 3,500 a month. "It's more than enough," he said. This is reasonable as he lives by himself and as a student, he gets a variety of discounts beginning from transportation to movie tickets. In Germany one goes to school without paying any fees. The total expenses for a student dormitory plus meals is only DM 1,000.

Priyatna, who has lived in Germany for more than 12 years, has sufficient income. Not because he worked harder, but because his wife and four children were here.

Wages and payments in Germany are given in accordance with the employee's marital status. If one is married, he gets what is called spouse allowance. This allowance is increased if he has a child, and he will get more if he has additional children. On the question of children, it turns out that they are paid not only by the company he works for, but also by the government. Child welfare allowance of DM 250 is received every year until the children are 18 years old. This wage and payment system is valid for everyone, including foreigners.

Priyatna's monthly income was DM 6.500 when his wife and four children still lived there. This allowed him to send money to his mother, who was a retired school teacher, and he could also afford to buy himself a car and a plot of land in Depok. He could also afford to invite on occasion his parents and parents in law to Germany.

Sunarkito is one of five Indonesian experts from Indonesian Aerospace (which used to be called IPTN) working at Dornier airplane manufacturer.

"My expertise as a senior engineer is highly appreciated," he said without revealing his income.

According to a source, an engineer in that position would at least earn between DM 6,000 to DM 8,000.

"Given time I don't think it is difficult for anyone to adapt to a new lifestyle and it is not that important to master the local language," said Sunarkito, who claimed unable to speak German.

In fact, the standard of living of the Indonesian engineers who work abroad in professional jobs is quite high. Yes, they are prosperous. Like what Sunarkito's colleague, Vembra Trigerya Vidjaja alias Gerry, said: "I am grateful because our living is much better than that when we worked in Indonesia."

Living abroad, though, has its ups and downs. Expressing one's opinion, for instance, can be a serious matter. Indonesians are known to be passive. They are reluctant to speak in public. Perhaps its because they have been "muted" for 32 years under Soeharto's regime.

Priyatna also felt that there is a degree of discrimination against foreign students, although it is not that strong. For example, supposedly he wrote a paper for the international journal, his supervisor would check it more carefully than if it was written by a German student. "So, as a foreigner, I had to work extra accurately, which psychologically is tiring, too."

Relationships in the office are limited to business only. Nothing more. So do not expect to know your colleagues' families the way many of us do when in Indonesia. The gap between supervisors and subordinates is so wide that Priyatna's advisor was once very suspicious when Priyatna gave him a present after he passed the degree examination. In actual fact the present was a token of his gratitude for helping him to achieve the title of Dipl-Ing (Engineer). "Just for your information, the prize was only a glass," said Priyatna laughingly.

There has been an increasing demand for technical engineers in Germany over the past few years. The President of the Federal Labor Office, Bernhard Jagoda, said that Germany requires as many as 1.5 million skilled workers.

Germany, which has so far firmly proclaimed itself as "not an immigrant country", is seemingly unable to support this claim. Chancellor Gerard Schroeder was the first to launch the concept in the "Cebit 2000" computer exhibition held in Hannover last February. As German has an ambition to be a pioneer in high-tech modernization in Europe, it should strengthen its human resources. If there are not enough experts available in Germany, then why not open an opportunity for foreign experts, Schroeder suggested. The response was as expected. Industrialists urged the government to implement this statement and make good their promises.

As a result, this year Germany put a Green Card employment system into effect. As of today Germany has provided 20,000 Green Cards for qualified workers to enter the workforce.

Going home

One question is, do those Indonesian intellectuals still intend to go home after years of enjoying the comfort of living overseas?

"Of course," Priyatna said. As soon as he has achieved his Doctor of Philosophy degree, which is about three more years, he will return to Indonesia. His plan when he returns to Indonesia is to set up a kind of technical consulting bureau. "I wish to make use of Indonesia-Germany ties," he said.

That is his plan. Priyatna is not sure whether IPTN will approve the plan as all scholarship receivers must sign a contract to work with the government.

Haider, for instance, has a contract of 13 years, while Gerry 12 years. Gerry said that if he wants to terminate his employment with IPTN, he must pay compensation amounting to DM 50,000.

Gerry remains optimistic that Indonesia will come out of its long economic demise. Therefore, he said, there is no problem if IPTN request him to return to Indonesia, although he would only receive a small salary.

"I will have to be patient. But being too patient will make me annoyed, too," said he laughingly. Yet, he is sure he would be able to contribute more to IPTN because of his experience in Germany.

However, Gerry and the other Indonesian expats share the same idea: they would not return home if Indonesia has not recovered from its economic and political turmoil.

Everyone must be entitled to plan their own future. If at the moment Indonesia cannot guarantee a safe and comfortable life for its people, why do they not try to do so in another place?

Head of the information section of the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin, Herawati Nuwargamiharja, commented: "we must be objective, because, if the question is the other way round, will the state be able to offer them appropriate jobs? Clearly, it will be impossible."

There are at present 5,000 Indonesian families living in Germany, and more than 70 percents of them are university graduates. So, while the opportunity continues, keep studying abroad and take advantage of what is available there. It is an investment in your future. (Sri Pudyastuti Baumeister)