'Learn to speak Bahasa Indonesia or pack your bags!'

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will require a Bahasa Indonesia proficiency test, or (UKBI), for expatriates working or studying in Indonesia to allow them to build better communication with locals, says a senior official.

However, the policy could mean undesirable consequences and fees for the approximately 30,000 foreigners working or studying in the country and affect foreign investment.

If the proficiency test is mandatory, expatriates will have no choice but to learn the local language before taking the test, or be told to leave the country.

"The test will be similar to the TOEFL for English proficiency," said the director of the Language Center of the Ministry of National Education, Dendy Sugono in a reference to the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

The test will include grammar, reading comprehension, vocabulary and listening, and will be mandatory for all foreigners, including those working in both the formal and informal sectors.

"Fluency in Bahasa Indonesia is important for foreigners who live in the country so they can communicate with local people. That will support their work here as well as make them more confident," Dendy opined.

He claimed that many English-speaking foreigners living in the country had found it difficult to communicate with Indonesians, even those that do speak English. And as a result many preferred to work in Singapore or Malaysia because they are not required to speak a foreign language.

"The other reason is that we are willing to position Bahasa Indonesia as an equal to other languages like English, French, Mandarin or German", he said.

According to Dendy, the government would provide courses -- for a fee -- to foreigners who fail the test, so they could improve their fluency in Bahasa.

Dendy said he was optimistic that foreigners' proficiency in speaking Bahasa would improve after taking the government's course.

"Every job position will require its own proficiency level. The proficiency level for machine operators will be different with that of managers, journalists or president directors," he said citing the proficiency levels would be set later.

Dendy said further that the policy would be imposed for those wanting to work or study in Indonesia, meaning they would all need to be fluent before entering Indonesia.

The test will be conducted at Indonesian Embassies overseas. "We, together with the Ministry for Culture and Tourism, are now preparing cultural centers in several countries. One of the purposes is to establish language centers," he said.

Asked about the possibility that the policy might end up just being one more in a long list of barriers for foreigners who wish to work or invest in the country, Dendy said the government had realized the possible negative impacts and the new policy would be discussed further with the Manpower and Education Ministries.

"We should be careful not to make the test another barrier for foreigner investors who want to enter the country," he said.

Dendy conceded that the test was indirectly designed to protect Indonesian workers as many highly skilled jobs are still being dominated by foreigners.

"Concerning skills, we are far below foreigners. So, if foreigners are able to speak Bahasa Indonesia, it will enable them to transfer their knowledge and exchange information to our workers."

Dendy gave an example that in linguistics, many foreigners had done research on Bahasa Indonesia and published papers on it.

"Later, their papers actually receive more recognition from the international community than those published by local linguists. In fact, we are Indonesians, the ones who own Bahasa Indonesia," he said.

According to data at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the number of foreigners working in Indonesia has reached around 30,000 and most are employed in the industrial zones in Batam, Jakarta, East Java, Kalimantan and Papua.

In addition, Presidential Decree No. 100/1997 allows local and foreign companies in Indonesia to recruit expatriates for managerial positions and for others that can not be filled by locals for one reason or another.