Expatriate quiz amuses locals

Nurni Sulaiman ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Balikpapan   |  Tue, 02/12/2008 11:15 AM  |  Headlines

A quiz designed for expatriates living and working in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, has shown at least three Australians are keen to compete, but need to brush up on their language skills.

The speech and presentation contest includes locals, students and visitors and is specifically designed to encourage expatriates to learn the local language, said Balikpapan's tourism office head, Oemy Facessly,

"We've held the contest three times now and it's also aimed to introduce expatriates to the local culture," Oemy said.

The decision to include the contest in Balikpapan's regular calendar of events was made when the town's number of expatriates hit more than 1,500.

Saturday night's quiz was held in conjunction with the 111th anniversary of Balikpapan.

"Whenever we hold the event, visitors and expatriates have enthusiastically responded to our invitation," Oemy said.

Australians Neil Morrison, Sydney Richard Nixon and Malcolm Mauger were three of eight expatriates invited to attend the contest -- and the only ones to turn up.

All questions directed to the three men were asked in Bahasa Indonesia, while others invited to compete, mostly local students, were asked questions in English.

When the three Australians were asked the name of Balikpapan's mayor, Morrison said, "Saya kenal Bapak Walikota, namanya siapa ya." (I know the mayor, but not his name.)

The others were unable to answer the question.

Mauger's attempt to tell the judges the President of Indonesia's name drew much laughter from the audience.

The students yelled out "Soeharto" apparently in an attempt to confuse him.

He was eventually able to answer in broken Indonesian.

Further questions revealed some confusion around Indonesia's date of independence.

Despite the challenging situation, however, Morrison, Nixon and Mauger each said they were pleased to take part in the competition.

Mauger was declared the winner of the quiz and said his victory was thanks to the time he had spent working in the area. Nixon said he still found it difficult to understand Bahasa Indonesia.

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