[Kabar-indonesia] The Follies and Foibles of Indonesia's Unsung Heroes

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post
Monday, October 9, 2006

The Follies and Foibles of Indonesia's Unsung Heroes 

Duncan Graham, Contributor, Malang, East Java

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno has been reported as 
saying 2.7 million Indonesians are working overseas. By year's end that number is 
expected to reach three million. They remit about US$2.4 billion a year, making 
labor exports a major part of the nation's economy. How does the money get 
back and where does it go? The Jakarta Post reports from Malang in East Java, a 
major maid recruitment center:

It takes at least three months to get an inexperienced village girl ready for 
deployment, said licensed manpower contractor Karnaka. One of the 
difficulties 
is their inadequate knowledge of the banking system and money, and how to use 
it effectively. 

Schools in Indonesia should be helping young people understand the basics of 
finance. They are vulnerable and easily ripped off by the unscrupulous. The 
system 
of education is just not good enough. This is the job of the schools, not the 
banks. 

With his wife Kristiana Purwaningsih, Karnaka runs PT Binamandiri 
Muliaraharja. 
The company currently sends about 50 young women to jobs in the Asia Pacific 
region every month. 

There are about 60 licensed agents in East Java, and according to Karnaka, 
hundreds of illegal operators. 

The Tenaga Kerja Wanita (TKW) (women's workforce) being cheated of some of 
their earnings by corrupt transportation operators and officials at Jakarta's 
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has long been a concern. This was rare at 
Surabaya's Juanda International Airport where controls were tighter, he said. 

However many fail to achieve their dream of coming back with a sizable sum to 
start a small business or build a new home because they cannot budget 
properly, are gullible and are not aware of the pitfalls. 

Now Binamandiri Muliaraharja, in association with two major banks, runs a 
one-day financial workshop for potential TKW as part of their in-house training. 
Bank officers visit the training center to help the women open an account and 
get an ATM card. 

In what Karnaka said was a special deal for East Java TKW, one bank allows 
saving accounts to be opened with as little as Rp 10,000 ($1) while the other 
requires a minimum balance of Rp 25,000 ($2.50). 

Most banks usually require start-ups of around Rp 500,000 ($50). 

"In many cases this is the first time the maids have had any dealing with a 
bank," Karnaka said. There are few branches in the villages and markets. 

The idea of using a financial institution and saving money is rare. So people 
employ other ways to borrow, like loan sharks and bank cicil. 

This is an informal, traditional system where people get small sums from 
friends and neighbors and repay little-by-little, day-by-day. 

Trusting others in money matters can have awful consequences. Karnaka said he 
advised workers to send home only basic amounts for specific purposes, like 
school fees. The maid should keep most earnings. 

One woman who ignored this advice and remitted all her salary to her husband 
committed suicide when she returned after two years overseas to find her 
spouse had lost Rp 60 million (US$6,500) on gambling. 

Others have had their savings stolen by people they thought were honest 
friends and relatives. Earning comparatively large sums sometimes goes to the heads 
of TKW who go on a splurge of mobile phones and accessories when the money 
had been set aside for other purposes. 

The standard way of sending cash back to the family is through a relative or 
friend from the same Indonesian village, and who has finished her contract and 
is returning home, he said. 

"Of course this is fraught with hazards. Imagine the responsibility of 
someone carrying, for example, thousands of Hong Kong dollars for a neighbor. We 
tell them that he may be your father or husband but you shouldn't always trust." 

Not everyone takes that advice. Others bring back their own money, and then 
transfer it into rupiah through money changers, not banks. They don't always 
know the rate or compare with other dealers. 

"It would be ideal if they could put their earnings into an account overseas 
but some countries won't allow foreigners to do this." 

The formal banking system is also in for its cut, with Karnaka telling of a 
woman moving Rp 1.7 million ($183) from Taiwan to Indonesia. She had Rp 300,000 
($32) -- or about 18 percent -deducted for transfer fees, conversions, 
administration and wire service -- and all fees were legal. 

Binamandiri Muliaraharja has now opened an account in Hong Kong where maids 
can deposit their money. For a transaction fee of Rp 50,000 ($5) and using the 
Internet the money can be accessed in Indonesia in rupiah and sent to a 
village post office where charges are not imposed. 

An Asian Development Bank (ADB) study released earlier this year claimed 
billions of dollars were bypassing the banks as overseas workers used informal 
remittance systems. The Philippines-based ADB urged a relaxation of regulations 
and lowering of fees to encourage workers to use banks. 

By ignoring this trade the banks were also losing the chance to get new 
customers and sell other products, the study said. 

Karnaka said Binamandiri Muliaraharja was started by his mother Tuti Sanarto 
in 1985 to empower village women and help those being exploited in the Middle 
East. It was transferred to her son last year. 

Up to 750 young women live and study at the company's five training centers 
in Malang. Here they learn Cantonese and Mandarin in a 30-booth language 
laboratory, master the arts of Chinese cooking and discover the complexities of 
Western toilets. 

There's even a mock Singapore flat where trainees can learn to wash high-rise 
apartment windows without tumbling to their death. The laundry is equipped 
with ancient bump-and-grind twin tub washing machines through to the latest 
beeping computer-controlled front-end loaders. Theoretically the TKW should be 
able to handle any gadget they might encounter once they leave the archipelago. 

Cultural knowledge, like sweeping dust from the front of a Chinese house to 
the back so the money won't escape, is also taught. 

The placement fee is Rp 9 million ($900), which is taken in installments from 
the woman's salary. Since starting business the company says it has sent 
50,000 Indonesians to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. It is now 
considering deploying workers to Australia which is suffering a labor 
shortage. 

Companies that send young women overseas to work must be responsible, Karnaka 
said. "We can advise maids on how to handle their money, to never carry more 
than Rp 100,000 ($11) and the best way to transfer funds internationally. But 
in the end it's up to them what they do and many want to express themselves." 

One woman rejected the use of our bus to transfer her home from the airport 
and took a taxi to impress her village. 

But when she got out to buy souvenirs the driver vanished with her bag and Rp 
30 million. Sadly she hadn't taken a note of the cab number. And there went 
her reason for working overseas in the first place. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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