Good Neighbors

The Jakarta Post   |  Fri, 03/28/2008 2:27 PM  |  Center Piece

In the West and Middle East, Filipinos are known as nurses and maids, cheap trained labor. In Indonesia, they are the faces of multinationals, the brains behind advertising strategies and the teachers of our children. Harumi Supit reports.

Every other Wednesday morning, the cars start pulling up at the Legaspies’ house in South Jakarta. For three hours the Santa Monica group, an informal organization comprised almost entirely of Filipina women, prays, trades gossip and enjoys a social hour over lunch, maintaining bonds that see the women the joys and challenges of a life abroad in Jakarta.

Ramon Perez, consular assistant at the Embassy of the Philippines in Jakarta, estimates there are some 4,000 long-term Filipinos residents in Jakarta. They come for different reasons; many are hired by Indonesian companies or multinationals for upper management positions. A few come for religious reasons, joining church staff or missions. Marriage to an Indonesian is another common reason.

“It’s easier to make money in Indonesia than in the Philippines” is a sentiment commonly heard in the Filipino community here. Many find good positions in the advertising industry or in other communications positions where their English-language skills are useful.

It makes sense. Compared to their homeland, Indonesia’s economy is booming, but Indonesia still lacks the international wherewithal. Enter the sought-after Filipino neighbors, who are geographically and culturally closer to Indonesians than Europeans or Americans, serving as an ideal bridge between East and West.

In a sign of this cultural compatibility, Indonesians rarely air negative perceptions about their Filipino guests (unlike thorny relations with other regional neighbors), especially in Jakarta where the Filipino population is largely comprised of well-educated professionals and their families. Popular stereotypes focus positively on their gaiety and social skills: the Filipino Fourth of July celebration always manages to have a full dance floor, unusual for Jakarta official functions.

“Their English is good and their education is also of high quality,” says Minky Lesmana, a manager for textile company PT Eratex which often hires Filipinos to work in Indonesia. “Sometimes the ones from Hong Kong don’t have as good English.”

With more Indonesians eager to have their children learn English in school, Filipinos provide crucial teaching labor. The Bintaro branch of Mentari Citra, a bilingual school geared to educate children up to the sixth grade, presently employs five teachers from Cebu in the southern Philippines.

“I’m really super happy with them,” says school principal Michelle Sugito enthusiastically. “They’re so dedicated. They’re really into seeing improvement in the children.”
And, of course, they speak English.

Filipinos also find common ground in Indonesia.

“Living in Jakarta gives me a feeling of being at home because the climate, values of the people and the environment are very similar to Manila,” says Marissa Tablante-Saynes, the country manager for Click Licensing Asia, Inc., which distributes the rights for MARVEL, Sesame Street and Dreamworks in Southeast Asia and China.

Tablante-Sayers, who has lived in Jakarta for two years, says the traffic jams and malls as a favored recreation place also were nothing new. “But the best thing is finding new friends in a foreign land.”

Still, the Filipino community retains its distinct identity thanks to a tradition of social networking, disciplined self-organization and mutual help. Each year the Filipino Women’s Association publishes a book containing the names and contact information of all known members in Indonesia. Prayer groups and bazaars are common among the women. In cases where a Philippine national needs help, the embassy is accessible and very much hands-on.

The level of informal organization and cohesion is impressive, ranging from sports groups (golf, bowling and tennis) and religious groups, to professional organizations like the Association of Philippine Educators in Indonesia.

Once a year, Filipinos flood home to celebrate Christmas, returning after the New Year in a regular migration. Filipinos may sometimes yearn for home but they also appreciate the richness and opportunities they have in Indonesia.

“I like living in Indonesia because the country is rich in culture, the people are basically nice, patient, and it has beautiful and rich resources,” says Linda Kalona, a long-time resident married to an Indonesian who has spent more than 20 years in Jakarta. She has no plans to leave.

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