OT: Working in Indonesia - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Waks · 03-12-2003, 17:40

Has anyone worked in Indonesia lately? Im asking this because Ive been offered a 2 month contract to work there, subject to if a war breaks out.
To me it sounds pretty interesting but in curious what it'll be like over there.

Has anyone got any good or bad points about going and living there?

JC-XR8 · 03-12-2003, 18:33

Bad - the Bali bombing.

My sister was there (Djakarta) for a year and couldn't wait to get out. BUT she is now heading back to Bali. Must be something good about the place.

PURSUTE · 03-12-2003, 20:38

My old man has been in and out of Indonesia for the last 3 years working as a con******t. He was in Djakarta when the bombs were detonated in Kuta.

Apart from a few nervous days after the bombing, he has had nothing but good to say about the country and the people.

IMO it would be worth it. Yes there would be some risk involved, but if you don't take risks you miss out on all the good stuff.

I have only been to Kuta in Indonesia, so I have not experienced any of the real Indonesia, but I would go back to Kuta, and would travel/work in the rest of the country without a second thought if the opportunity arose.

V-Car · 03-12-2003, 21:45

Personally, id stay out of any Muslim nation (Indonesia is the worlds largest) at the moment, unless the contract is too good to refuse.
The way things are going, the shite is going to hit the fan in the middle east, and you might be better off staying here until you see how things go over there.

Tim_EF_5.0 · 03-13-2003, 03:33

My Dad Workins In Surabaya (The second biggest city in Indonesia after Jakarta) He has served there for a year so far out of a 3 year contract. I have gone over to to SUB and stayed with him a couple of times and have found it very nice and safe. even my mum goes over and stays with him 4 times a year.

Havent had any troubles at all.

Cheers

Tim

Dark_Horse · 03-14-2003, 22:26

Jakarta is now spelt without the "D".

Waks, it really depends whereabouts in Indon you plan to be working. As Tim has mentioned, Surabaya is one of the safer places to be in.

If you go, it sorta goes like this:

Learn some basic Bahasa Indonesia as some knowledge of the lingua franca will be appreciated. Expect that appointments will never be on time. Indonesian's are really laid back on schedules. Traffic is always a pain, especially after some heavy downpours. Food is good, local stuff tends to be more hot than spicey. If you dress like a tourist expect attention.

If it's right in the heart of Jakarta's CBD ie along Jalan Thamrind, when it happens political/civil unrest unfolds there. I was two blocks away from the ensuing riots in the 1997/98 elections (as the votes were being counted) cannon fodder for journo adventurism.

Muggings have also been known to take place along the tollway leading out of Soekarno Hatta Intl Airport during such unrests so be careful in that respect.

It's an experience worth experiencing, but take care. Hang with expats and you'll be right.

IPhido · 03-16-2003, 05:06

"Hang with expats and you'll be right."
Hmm is that always the case..

I haven't been to indoneisa, but Ive been to muslim countries and well basically maybe for a short vist I could handle it.. Barely, if I was well funded and organised and only went to nice places..

I was stuck in Cairo with no money with the girlfriend and involved in what seemed a pretty dodgy deal (ended up ok, maybe all deals are like that with arabs)..

Things got better when we got out of cairo.. But we did still get stones thrown at us by local kids, and some people were pissed off when we didn't tip them.. Then a police man decided he was going to be funny, and a korean guy tried to steel his machine gun.. And the australian women had there luggage stolen apparently for their underwear.. This was all in egypt tho not in indonesia which is a totally diffrent country with a totally diffrent culture..

I dunno.. But to me it seems like a big hassel.. Esp if you haven't checked the place out..

Mulsim nations at the moment might not be the best place to hang about.. Im sure most of them are nice and normal people. But they aren't the ones I worry about.. Walking past a store in Cairo which sold hand grenades and machine guns and across the road there was a 30 foot sign of Yassar Arafat crying over a baby.. Yeh pretty freaky..

Maybe if you were by yourself, male, young, really pumped for a challenging adventure, open minded ready for anything.. and they offered a truck load of cash..

dazd · 03-16-2003, 13:38

2 months in Bali is not that long, if you can get to some of the outer islands theyre beautifull my experince from Bali was excellent was there in March last year and heading back in Sept .

Cheap as chips to drink and eat, brand spanking m/bike for 4 bucks a day, beware the Javanese, loved the Balineese, crazy ass road rules makes for interesting travel.
If youre not confident on a scooter you should probally hire a car.
Watch the money exchanges can be dodgy sometimes.
Dont pat the dogs (always a good laugh)
Stay clear of crazy monkey temple.
Never say youll come back later when shopping.
Watch the dodgy transport operators outside airport.
Learn a couple of catch phrases.
And my last but most important tip, dont push to hard when passing wind as it can lead to most embarassing situation.

And youre from Perth when I was there nearly everyone I meet there was from Perth so you shouldnt be short of ppl to talk to.