Random - Stay Abroad (part 1)

Many Indonesian students and intellectuals who reap promising and prestigious position abroad are rarely going back to the country. One of them is a computer expert residing in Singapore, Ainun Najib. A well-known story has been viral on the internet as he was asked directly by the President of Indonesia to leave Singapore and relocated to Indonesia in order to build the nation and share his knowledge for domestic audience. Looking farther, back to the time when President Yudhoyono selected and then announced his cabinet, an appointed minister was drawn controversy because he has spent a quite lengthy period in the US and been granted citizenship. Although the citizenship was then confirmed untrue, the story told us that intellectuals outflux is not uncommon in Indonesia.

Looking broadly, intellectual drain is not endemically Indonesia's problem. Many countries suffer from the same problem. Several factors seem to induce this wide-spreading trend. First, better remuneration scheme is not available domestically. Second, better career development is found abroad. Third, staying and working abroad is seen as inevitable before back home and build the home country because there is no opportunity to develop further ones' competence.

University of Birmingham is a red brick university in the UK
where many Indonesian students study. 

There is another type of diaspora who studies abroad. These are students who are already working and whose position are already secured. They are usually sent by the governing ministry of their institution. This means if someone worked in a university under the ministry of education, his/her studentship/scholarship is a contractual agreement between them and the ministry. Hence, regardless of his/her institution location, once he/she completed the respected doctorate or master degree they must return as soon as possible. In this case, their fiduciary rights and obligation are not negotiable unless clearly stipulated in the contract.

Still, the controversy carries on. There is a time when the government vis-a-vis the ministry-sponsor fails to meet awardee's right and vice versa. Despite each party's good intention, the agreement seemed a formality in nature. There is a nuance of lack of self-discipline and communication. 

On top of this, the controversy is not the main story. As Indonesian, the main issue is how far Indonesians, from the most eastern to the western part, being exposed to high quality education which will further their live and well-being - not merely intellectual per se. This eternal vision has already been mentioned about a century ago by a former education ministry, Ki Hajar Dewantara. Understandably, this might not be realized in less than 10 years. Yet, several steps are not incomprehensible and un-identified. These easily defined steps are supposedly easier to deal with. The number of Indonesian students actively study in the world's top 100 universities, for instance, is left behind neighboring countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore not to mention China and Korea. Interestingly, the so-called world's level university in developed countries is less in the number than that in Indonesia. Why is that? I believe it is related to culture and political decision - among others. 

to be continue