Is Jakarta a great city for expats to inhabit?

James Kallman and Baudouin Coomans, PT. Moores Rowland Indonesia, Jakarta

It was a small piece in last Thursday's The Jakarta Post that caught my eye Singapore tops Asian cities for expats. According to the latest Mercer rankings of the overall quality of life in 215 cities worldwide, Singapore has risen three places to share 33rd spot with Tokyo; Jakarta is ranked 139.

Now with the greatest respect to Mercer, we beg to differ. According to a very rough poll of expatriates, we at Moores Rowland have ranked Jakarta among the top 10 most desirable cities to live in anywhere in the world. And this includes talking to expats who have lived in many different cities. Indeed, many we canvassed have lived in Jakarta for 10 years or more and are happy to call it home.

Thus, how can there be such a difference between the results that Mercer came up with and the opinions of expatriates we talked to?

Mercer base their poll on 39 quality of life criteria, using New York as a benchmark 100. Among the things they consider are personal safety and health, education, transport, recreation and housing.

Now for a start we consider personal safety and health as entirely different criteria, but perhaps this is where American, Australasian and European cities can hope to steal a few points.

Of all the expatriates we talked to, none had any fears for their personal safety, pointing out that this is where Asian cities such as Jakarta, Singapore, Tokyo etc. should score well above their counterparts in Europe and the U.S.

While there is always the potential to contract tropical diseases in Jakarta, with care and attention to hygiene this can to a large degree be avoided. Although much improved in recent decades, in general medical facilities in Jakarta still perhaps lag behind those available regionally, and definitely so for the latest advanced treatments available in the western world.

Quality education is now available in Jakarta, but as elsewhere for expatriates it doesn't come cheap. For tertiary and post-graduate education however, reputation can still play a major role in how these qualifications are viewed by potential employers. In the age of globalization though this could well change, as one notes how Indian computer programmers are recognized as being among the world's elite.

Transport is an area where we do have to hold our hands up and admit we earn a very low position. Our traffic is horrendous, not helped by a total lack of driver discipline, particularly among bus drivers that rank among the world's worst. One bright wag even suggested that the reason for the new bus-way was to protect other motorists from the excesses of at least some bus drivers.

The only positive slant we can put on this sector is that there are few cities in the world where the average expatriate could afford to employ a full-time driver, leaving him free to read reports and contact business associates via mobile phone whilst comfortably ensconced in an air-conditioned environment.

Recreation is all about what one wants. No, Jakarta does not provide the facilities of New York's Broadway or London's West End, but there aren't many cities in the world where you can play golf on international-class courses so cheaply, a boon the Japanese for example delight in. Nor do many other cities offer such great facilities for sailing, diving and other water-sports.

In short, Jakarta does offer excellent facilities for recreation that is dependent on personal involvement, though less so for those that want to sit back and be entertained.

There are some beautiful houses in the Jakarta area, or as many expatriates now prefer, luxurious apartments. Thus as far as housing is concerned, Jakarta is certainly up amongst the front- runners when you talk about value for money.

Presumably these are considered the most important items in Mercer's evaluation, but what about other less black-and-white issues?

One problem we have with such annually published reports is that they try to quantify intangibles, comparing oranges and rambutans against a standard of apples. Plus they are valued through western eyes, while we suggest very different results would be obtained based on Asian values.

In our opinion, one of the major factors as to whether or not expatriates find a city attractive to live and work in, is their willingness and ability to adapt to the local culture, something that we suspect U.S.-based Mercer find difficult to factor into their calculation.

It is thus not surprising that American, Australasian and European cities fill the upper ranks of their chart, for although there may be language differences the cultural heritages are to a large degree very similar.

The move to Asia however, brings with it a totally different set of cultural values, not to mention languages that have no European base. For those arriving expecting things to be the same as back home, a shock lies in store. Yet it is their willingness to adapt to this cultural "shock" that will largely determine the enjoyment of their stay. Those that make the effort find fulfillment and love it, for like anything else worthwhile, you get out what you're prepared to put in.

Gaining at least a rudimentary knowledge of the language is a start, as is understanding the sensibilities of one's hosts. All of this takes time, which is why the attractiveness of Jakarta continues to be an on-growing process. Many long-term expatriates of course find this enhanced by marriage to an Indonesian spouse.

Thus from those of us who find Jakarta one of the greatest cities in the world in which to live, we would appreciate it if perhaps next time Mercer could lift the city to above halfway. However, we would be unhappy if they placed Jakarta in its rightful place in the top 10, for that's a secret we feel is best left untold.