Indonesia's advantage as an 'open society'

Indonesia's advantage as an 'open society'

Byron Black, Jakarta

We in Indonesia tend to focus too sharply on the problems
facing the nation, and indeed there are massive and urgent ones
to be solved. Illegal logging and environmental degradation,
religious and ethnic violence, massive corruption, malnutrition
and poor health, an acutely-deprived educational system: These
and other challenges must be addressed and dealt with forcefully
and effectively, to bring this Republic up to a level of well-
being, stability and prosperity.

It is equally relevant to consider exploitation of the
tremendous advantage Indonesia possesses, in being an open
culture, and how it may gain a competitive lead in the coming
globalized era.

As an example of how openness gives a society an advantage,
consider how many million Filipinos are already working in
countries around the world, integrated smoothly into medicine,
banking, industry, education and other fields. Pinoys and pinays
are particularly in demand for technical and professional jobs in
the Middle East, and it is rare to find a hospital in Europe or
America without at least one Filipino doctor or nurse. Of course,
like the Malaysians and Singaporeans they have the extra
advantage of an English-language-based educational system.

Indonesians are also in demand overseas, but generally for
lower-paid work: Seamen, hospital orderlies, construction
laborers -- and, of course, the notorious "takeaway" girls. This
is rapidly changing, however, as Indonesians come back from
overseas study with advanced degrees in banking, finance, and
particularly engineering: Many of the oil rig jobs which used to
be reserved for white-skinned "oilies" can now be handled by
trained local personnel, and increasing numbers of technical and
management positions are being filled by Indonesians as well (for
obvious reasons, as they draw much lower salaries, even when the
pay is very attractive by local standards, and they know the
language and the culture, so they won't cause trouble).

One key to enhancing the competitive advantage of an "open
Indonesia" is upgrading the level of English competence. The
misfortune of Indonesia in colonial times was to have the
Netherlanders as their overlords: Dutch is frankly a useless
language in international business and communication. Even if you
speak the language, when you go to the Netherlands a Dutchman
will most probably respond to you in English.

Closed cultures have a very ambivalent, if not schizophrenic,
attitude toward foreign languages and foreign language learning.
Anyone who has ever tried to teach a foreign language in Japan or
China will tell you of the terrific difficulty of working with
local learners, even highly intelligent ones. There seems to be a
kind of mental block, a filter through which the students
innately feel nervous, afraid and even shamed when speaking a
foreign tongue, as though this were somehow betraying their
national character.

Linguistics researchers call this a "cultural morality" and
thank God Indonesians aren't afflicted with it. The reason for
linguistic openness is obvious, for those with even a glancing
acquaintance with Indonesian history.

China is even worse, as the Chinese inherently believe in
their natural superiority: Even the name, Jung-gwo, means
"Central Kingdom". They are trained from childhood to believe
they are by far the most civilized race in the world, and that
their language and culture are superior to others. In fact, the
plain truth is that China is a primitive, over-populated country
with a ruined ecology, bankrupt ideology, corrupt civil service,
beset with catastrophic social problems. The Chinese are
therefore pressed to seek their survival with the aid of the
outside world, either in purchasing their tsunami of export goods
or assisting with medical expertise in dealing with AIDS, SARS or
other public health crises.

All of this means dealing professionally and equitably with
outsiders, in English. Anywhere you go, public relations and
English skills are no longer the exclusive preserve of the expert
Westerner or native speaker. They are analogous to the
fluorescent light fixture, the reciprocating-piston internal-
combustion gasoline engine or the digital computer: There is no
longer any "nationality" attached to Marketing, Public Relations,
Advertising or English competence, as these are de facto global
skills, with accepted rules of practice.

Take the Middle East, where there is a healthy market for
trained professional communicators, marketing personnel and
English experts. A qualified Indonesian will have a natural
advantage in getting a job with a company or government body
there, particularly if he or she is a Muslim.

Specific areas of expertise that deal with shortcomings in
Indonesian dealing with outsiders will have to be addressed. For
instance, there is the notorious reactive stance of the Javanese
in confrontational situations, where a pro-active position is
plainly superior. The entire educational system is based on an
ikut-ikut mentality, where originality, questioning of authority
or tradition and forthrightness are not encouraged. (This, by the
way, explains the tremendous influence of minority groups like
the Batak who, while composing only a fraction of the population,
hold numerous important positions in banking, entertainment, the
military and government service -- they are encouraged from
childhood to take a bold and confident approach to others.)

Those with experience in broadcasting, theater, music or
promotion today consider specializing in the teaching and
coaching of presentation skills, a very important talent for
businesspeople, and a particular weakness of Indonesians.
Executives and companies will often be ready to spend money to
upgrade their star personnel for road shows, shareholder
meetings, and other events.

The passive approach to education and securing a job is most
inappropriate in this highly competitive age, and a common
complaint of multinational employers in Indonesia is the relative
passiveness or what they perceive of as the "immaturity" of local
staff people. In general, incidentally, women tend to be more
forthright and dynamic than men, and are thus often preferred by
foreign employers.

With the advent of ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) it will be
easier for Indonesians to get permission to work in lucrative
professional positions overseas -- but by the same token people
here will be competing for jobs with Singaporeans, Australians
and Malaysians, all of whom have the considerable advantage of a
superior educational background (and, of course, fluency in
English). They have also been imbued with a more dynamic and
creative approach to problem-solving in day-to-day activities.

The writer is Director of Publications, London School of
Public Relations, Jakarta.