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Maintaining a stiff upper lip in Surabaya
Duncan Graham
Contributor/Surabaya
When young English teacher Alex Gough arrived in Surabaya about
12 years ago there was a small, but active British community
functioning in the East Java capital.
There was also a British Consul backed by a system of
"wardens". Their job was to maintain contact with expats and pass
around information. There was also a branch of the British
Council promoting arts, culture and education.
"I can remember gathering around the pool at the consul's
house with other British expats and drinking gin and tonics,"
said Gough.
"This was during the 1990s when the political and economic
situation was unstable."To my surprise, we were told very clearly
that we were on our own and there was no way the British
government was going to repatriate us if things got nasty.
"At the time the Americans were organizing muster stations for
their citizens and the Koreans had pickup points. We just had to
keep a stiff upper lip. That's how it felt, like something out of
Our Man in Havana" (the famous Graham Greene novel).
Now there is no honorary British Consul in Surabaya, a job
that traditionally fell to the manager of the Hongkong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation, but later passed to industrialists
who worked far out of the city. The wardens have also vanished,
more victims of Internet communication.
And, last year, the British Council closed its beautifully
refurbished study center in central Surabaya. This was a
marvelous place for locals and expats to read English literature,
watch British videos and discuss international affairs over a cup
of Java coffee.
Many of the Council's resources have been passed on to the
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) in Surabaya. It is a
fitting location (see sidebar).
'A few blobs in lots of water'
And Gough, the one-time footloose English hitchhiking
backpacker from Kent who fell in love with Indonesia and an
Indonesian woman, is now well established. Through durability
and status he has become the de-facto head of the tiny British
community in Indonesia's second-largest city.
It's not a position he's sought or promotes, and thinks the
idea a hoot, particularly as his first arrival in Indonesia was
with turtle smugglers plying the Malacca Straits. At the time
his knowledge of the archipelago was of "a few blobs in lots of
water."
Now he speaks fluent Indonesian, wears a tie and manages a
prestigious English language college with about 400 students and
a reputation for excellence.
There's been no conscious plan to Anglicize the place, but
half of Gough's expat staff at the Indonesia Australia Language
Foundation (IALF) are British. Ironically, this makes the
Australian institution probably the largest employer of Britons
in Surabaya.
Where are the Aussies? Some are out in the pesantren (Islamic
boarding schools) helping local English teachers improve their
skills (see The Jakarta Post Sept. 7, 2005). But persistent
travel warnings and a bad press have made many Australians
reluctant to travel west of Bali.
Another factor is the low wages offered to Australian teachers
who can earn much more in Korea and Japan and where visa
restrictions and tax imposts are reported to be less onerous.
For British teachers seeking overseas experience Indonesia is not
a worrisome neighbor but a distant and exotic location.
Warnings against foreigners gathering in places like upmarket
hotels, where they may present fundamentalists with an easy
target, have also served to keep expats at home.
Even in the well-known Jatim Club in the KADIN (Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce) building, a cheery spot where businessfolk
quaff lager longer, the English is more Rhine than Thames.
The Expat Women's Association of Surabaya has about only five
Britons in a total membership of around 100.
"The situation is different in Jakarta where the British have
a substantial presence but in East Java we are now such a small
group of teachers and technical advisers that we can't maintain a
separate identity," Gough said.
"That's not a problem for me. My wife, Dinda, is Javanese and
I've become a Muslim. We live in the community. But our two-year
old daughter, Olive, is British and like me can only stay here on
a visa."
It's these sorts of citizenship difficulties that often
confound expats in Indonesia who form relationships and have
children. For these people consular offices have traditionally
provided information and sometimes assistance. That's when
they're not promoting trade opportunities or encouraging
tourists.
France, Germany, the U.S., the Netherlands, India, Sweden,
Japan, Sri Lanka, Belgium and Denmark all have consular or
honorary consular services in Surabaya.
The centralization of services and the expanding use of the
Internet have weakened the demand for a local presence, but
Indonesian culture prefers face-to-face contacts, particularly in
business.
"It's a shame to see the British Council break up in
Surabaya," said Gough. "There's a great need for cultural events
to promote our way of life, and that's not happening. The cross-
cultural component of education is extremely important, and we
teach this at the IALF.
"Surabaya gets a hammering in the guide books and Westerners
tend to roll their eyes when they hear East Java, but I find
living here is great. Sure, there's some pollution but it's
nothing compared with some industrial cities in China.
"The British should be far more active here. If you come here
with the right attitude it's an awesome experience -- and I mean
that in the American sense of the word. This is a wonderful
country -- it's so many countries within a country.
"As a bule you can't lock yourself away in an expat enclave
and pretend it's Gibraltar. You either like it and join in, or
hate it and get out.
"East Java is very Indonesian. It's also very safe. There's so
much to do and see. But there's no point in living here if
you're really not into the place."
Pic caption: IALF manager Alex Gough with Indonesian English
teachers studying to upgrade their teaching skills.