TOGETHER, FROM EVERYWHERE

COPING WITH A GO-ALONG TO GET-ALONG SOCIETY          

Joe Kirk doesn’t use the words “foreigner” or “bule”’ the slang term in Java for Caucasians. Some consider it racist because centuries ago it meant an albino buffalo.

“I prefer ‘international citizen’ - that covers everyone,” the East Java Friends founder said in his Malang home where he runs the network of  330 people from 22 separate nations.

The top three nationalities are the US, Australia and the Netherlands. Some are retirees, others work for international companies.  Many are married to Indonesians.

Newcomers raise their needs, queries and concerns. Top of the list isn’t security or health  but traffic and space, or rather its absence. This bothers people raised in the Australian outback or American prairies.

“I tell them straight - this is how things are.” said Kirk. “The locals aren’t going to change so you need to adjust. OK, the road rules are different  and not always followed as in the West. Don’t complain, adapt and enjoy.

‘We’re outsiders, privileged to be in this extraordinary country. There’s so much to see and learn, including the language and lifestyle. If that’s not what you want, head home.”

Apart from the city’s famous boulevard Jalan Ijen and the central street Jalan Basuki Rachmat, 78 years ago the citizens of the second biggest metropolis in East Java inherited some splendid buildings, particularly churches and government offices.

But these standouts are surrounded by a spaghetti of narrow alleys left by the departing Dutch colonialists.

They weren’t  bad planners but constrained by the deep gullies and twisting tributaries of the Brantas River and the encircling hills and mountains.

It’s these geographical features that make the cool hilltown 444 metres above sea level the place where Kirk loves to live and expects to die - though that’s not planned for anytime soon as there’s too much to do - and it’s all his own making. He reckons being busy is a virtue.

When he spoke to Indonesia Expat the one-time soldier, accountant, company manager and businessman was preparing for the EJF’s annual carnival, the first since Covid restrictions were lifted.

The idea is to “meet your community neighbours” by sharing food and games played on the grounds of an international school.

Together with his Indonesian wife Ratih,  Kirk was gathering flags and posters and assembling a schedule of events to keep the show moving and ensure much intermingling.  

This takes some organising, a skill Kirk has in abundance largely because of his rich background.

He grew up on a cotton farm in Mississippi and put himself through a four-year university course by working four jobs.  He eventually joined the army..

Out of uniform, he scored a job with an international tobacco company. He doesn’t smoke but learned how to test for taste and quality.  He did so well that the directors sent him to Jakarta, a city he’d never heard about.

 He arrived in mid-May 1998, glanced out of a Jakarta high-rise at the streets below, saw the demonstrators  as second President Soeharto quit office, and told his colleagues to leave - and quickly.

Hearing of the disorder from the safety of the US should have been enough to convince Kirk there were better places to employ his talents.  But his company wanted him to manage a run-down tobacco factory in Malang.

He took the job on his terms, expanded output and turning the business into profit. He did this not by buying costly new machines from overseas which would have displaced operators and distressed many, but by responding to the needs of the 600 staff.

That included an early-opening canteen to encourage on-time starts, hygienic toilets and worker-friendly schedules, approaches he’d garnered over the years from being a hands-on manager and student of human behaviour.

At that time a German couple was publishing a quarterly newsletter in English. When they returned to Europe Kirk took over, dumped the magazine and expanded the organisation. He found small groups of expats “living in bubbles of work or religion, not mixing.

“I didn’t like that. We need to mix with the locals, support each other in adjusting to Indonesian laws and culture and solving everyday problems. Some involve dealing with government agencies, like Immigration where the staff have always been very helpful.

“This is a go-along to get-along society. People are tolerant and accepting and usually interested in who we are. But we must always be respectful.

“We meet weekly for lunch and have monthly family gatherings and special occasions. I put out a news bulletin every afternoon and forward security alerts from the US consulate-general in Surabaya.

“We’ve assembled a directory of recommended services, like clinics and repair shops. Members share their experiences and offer advice.

“Whenever I see an international citizen I don’t know, in the street or shopping malls, I invite them to join EJF - there’s no fee. We have to encounter newcomers, and make them welcome.

“Whatever their background I want people to feel they are part of Malang and be happy here.”

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 First published in Indonesia Expat, 4 July 2024: https://online.fliphtml5.com/qinqh/ewir/#p=14