This blog is both a personal and philosophical account of my experience working for and subsequent to my employment as a native speaker English teacher (NET) by Ukrida Penabur Internasional (UPI), a programme established by Badan Pendidikan Kristen Penabur (BPK Penabur) in partnership with Curtin University in Australia to raise the standard of English in Penabur senior high schools to a sufficiently high level (IELTS 5/6) so that graduates could then enrol in Curtin University.
As a qualified school teacher with a degree in education, a registered IELTS examiner and at that point 17 years experience teaching English in Jakarta, I was uniquely qualified, and the first recruit.
However, on October 11th 2006 my employment as a NET with UPI was summarily terminated. There were no warnings, apart from my own intuition, and no legal procedure followed, not even a letter of dismissal in writing.
I asked for one and this was couriered to my house the next day. The reason given was "negative feedback", in itself a nonsensical statement, and was signed by David Nesbit, the expatriate Teacher Co-ordinator (TC). His signing of the letter was in itself illegal in that under the statutory regulations of Indonesian Act No.13 2003 Concerning Manpower which governs, among other matters, the employment of expatriate staff, Article 46 (1) states: "No worker of foreign citizenship is allowed to occupy positions that deal with personnel."
And so began a journey through the Indonesian legal system which culminated in a successful appeal to the ultimate authority, the Supreme Court, a decision which (BPK Penabur) has wilfully ignored to this day.
Why they should do so will comprise the philosophical aspect of this blog. In brief, I believe that they are guilty of a process of 'ethical fading'*, whereby maximising returns is encouraged over fairness to fellow employees and clients and any notion of right and wrong goes out of the window.
Much of what I intend to post here has already seen the light of hyperspace on my well-known blog Jakartass as well as Performing Monkeys, the blog I set up to highlight various aspects of the school system here in Indonesia.
There will be opinions freely given by former students, parents and teachers, both local and expatriate. And in many cases I will provide documentary evidence of rules which have been broken with alacrity (in spite of stated criminal penalties), and, although difficult to prove, brown envelopes.
On August 1st, through this (edited) email to Susiana Gunawan, then as now, the Business Manager of UPI, I gave due warning of my intention to expose the duplicity and criminality of BPK Penabur through the publication of various documents and through a media campaign, unless they responded by August 17th – today.
As they haven't, this is the beginning of a lengthy exposé which I will continue on a specific blog – Penalising Penabur. Assuming that BPK Penabur meet all their legal responsibilities, especiially those mandated by the Supreme Court, then I will take it off line.
And if they don't, please feel free to write to Susiana Gunawan and Roberto Robianto, the then Chairman of BPK Penabur (Jakarta) ultimately respomsible for the operations of UPI..
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—– Original Message —–
From: (ME)
To: Susiana Gunawan (Business manager of UPI)
Cc: Jac Poelemans (co-plaintiff, may have returned to Holland "in disgust"); Leva Chendra (British Consulate); Mark Wilson (Honorary Consul) ; SH& R (Konsultan Hukum) ; Geoffrey Nanulaitta SH (these last two are my 'legal team' who have given me 'permission' to go public)
Bcc. Current and former Penabur teachers, students and BPK Penabur Board of Governors
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 12:28 PM
Subject: Contempt of Supreme Court Ruling
“I can't change the past, but I have a chance to create my future. I can't go back and turn back the time. I can't change what I've done ..."
fr. Susiana Gunawan Friendster profile
That is not 100% true.
For a start, you can do what the Supreme Court has mandated you to do (Putusan No. 576 K/PDT.SUS/2008). Failure to do so leaves you liable to a term of imprisonment for contempt of court.
You may think that you can hide behind the Penabur Board of Governors, but they will hang you out to dry because you are the person named as representing BPK Penabur in the Supreme Court ruling, and you signed letters and other documents which admit to illegal acts, such as the non-payment of tax and the refusal to issue exit permits. There is also the matter of the employment of expatriates on tourist and business visas, and much else. (1 - an incomplete summary)
You are also named as the 'registrant' of upi-edu.com, albeit a defunct website, and you remain as 'business manager' of UPI, although no one seems quite sure what that entails. Presumably you are responsible for the recent recruitment advertisements in the Jakarta Post. These are de facto evidence that UPI continues to contravene prevailing regulations regarding the employment of "Qualified Native English Teachers".
I should not have to spell out to you what those regulations are, but for those of you who may have a direct interest, such as language institutions which do try to oby Indonesia's laws, I refer you to Act No.66 of 2009 About Granting Permission for Foreign National Teachers in formal and non-formal education units in Indonesia. It's online in Indonesian here, and English here.
I'm not seeking vengeance but merely what is owed according to the contract I signed in good faith with Ukrida Penabur International. Article 7 refers to Terms and Conditions, including termination of employment. Article 10 states that "the laws of Indonesia govern this Contract of employment and the determination of any disputes or claims arising in relation thereto."
The Supreme Court has ruled against UPI so in not settling matters with me (and Jac Poelemans) you are acting in contempt of court.
I am writing to you in good faith, expecting you to settle forthwith. As well as the sum stated in the Supreme Court ruling, plus the interest on that sum accrued in the two or so years since that ruling, there is the unpaid salary for work done prior to my arbitrary and unlawful dismissal, my legal entitlements under the law pending the settlement of this case (including medical costs), and the sorting out of my residence permit with the Department of Immigration.
When dealing with the latter issue, you may wish to refer them to the letter from my lawyers, SH & R, dated 23rd November 2009, ref no:158/SHR/PV/11/2009 (2) , which informed the Department of Immigration of your liability in law for my current situation until you have settled up according to the Supreme Court ruling referred to above. Your lawyers, Petrus Selestinus, will have a copy of that letter, and I separately informed the British Consulate of the situation. They were among the Cc'd recipients of the original email.
You would do well to read and inwardly digest your Bible, particularly Ezekiel 18 and Romans 12:19. However, in case you decide to ignore this, then let me assure you that if I do not hear from you or any of the board members before August 17th (i.e. today) – the second 'anniversary' of the publication of the Supreme Court's decision – as promised in my email to you, I am now posting online some of what will constitute some of the contents of my book, working title: Penabur – Contemptible and Criminal Christians.
Although my blog Performing Monkeys carries my opinions about your contemptible and morally corrupt management, I had yet to post any of the documents which demonstrate beyond any doubt Penabur's criminality and contempt for Indonesia's laws.
I do now, and this is but one example.
You do, of course, know that the regulations regarding the employment of 'native speaker' English teachers decree that they should be passport holders from just six countries: the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and, added to the list more recently, Ireland. Chile is not included. (Kenneth Olave, now back in Chile, has emailed me permission to post the above scan.)
However, this is but a common and relatively minor 'infringement' of Indonesia's laws, although one may legitimately ask the Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi – KPK) to investigate.
As well as the documents accepted as valid by the Supreme Court, which include the many (c.30) Articles of Act No.13 2003 Concerning Manpower which BPK Penabur has ignored, there are the matters of the non-issuance of Surat Setoran Pajak (S.S.P.) showing that BPK-Penabur has, in fact, paid income tax on my behalf as per the contract signed by both parties, of avoidance of the Dana Pengembangan Keahlian dan Keterampilan (DPKK), the Skill & Development Fund Fee of $1200 per annum payable to the Department of Manpower, and, in some cases, employing expatriates still on tourist or business visas, and in other cases employing expatriates as English teachers, yet registering them as, for documented example, a teacher of religion, thus rendering those employees liable to deportation.
(For anyone interested, then full and regularly updated details of Indonesia's visa regulations can be found on the Living in Indonesia website - here.)
This has gone on long enough, Suzi. Settle up in full, and I will delete this post.
It's up to you, lah.
Terry Collins.
B.Ed. CTEFL
(1) UPI and non-compliance with statutory Manpower regulations
(2) Letter to Department of Immigration re. TC’s status
—–(i.e. Penabur refused to process exit permit etc.)
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*Download Ethical Fading: The Role of Self-Deception in Unethical Behavior by Ann Tenbrunsel and David Messick.
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A specific blog – Penalising Penabur – has been set up on which comments, feed back and developments will be posted.
If you too have a specific complaint against Penabur – and can back it up with documentary evidence – I will post it there.
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