Yes, both Western staff and Indonesian staff often complained of harassment, both sexual and unprofessional (in other ways). Some of the female students often told me they would exit the toilets and Binsar would be waiting in the hallway outside. Some of the front desk staff used to tell me when they were alone he would “flirt” with them and tickle them. After I left, ************* told me the police came round because a student complained that Binsar had made inappropriate contact with her. Physical contact that is. One female staff member in particular told me her breaking point was a private conversation he wanted with her in his room, which she left furious. She never did tell me why but she did use the term, “That disgusting pig pervert asshole”, so those words speak for themselves.

 Money mostly. Even with the teacher’s room locked we would go back and find what little money we had had been taken and this wasn’t once or twice this happened, but a minimum once a week. The amount of times I got home and ordered my lunch only to realize my wallet had been emptied and I couldn’t recall spending anything. This happened to all Western and Indonesian staff. There were teachers resources such as books and new stationary that were “misplaced” or “missing” a lot too. There was also a stereo and a PC taken.

 During your time at Bekasi did anyone from Head Office ever visit to speak to the teachers?

No. Never. One time a friend of Binsars who was a “partner” in TBI visited, but we didn’t get to see him. He was an Indonesian and Binsar gave him a tour while we were in class. Perfectly timed really. We never got to see anyone from Head Office between the four of us which was a period of two years between us all.

No. Never. When we started, we just had to put our heads down and get on with it. No training was given for anything and no meetings were held to discuss anything. We went in, did our jobs and left. That was all that was expected of us until we started acting on our own initiative to improve the school and held training sessions and weekly meetings aiming for a level of quality so our students came back and in this whole six month period of TBI Bekasi getting more and more students through our open house programs and our demo lessions and work shops, TBI Head Office never contacted us.

No and I was never contacted when I quit either. I did however want some form of justice and sent the Head Office photocopies of the payment books and income sheets I printed “after work” hours and I did that anonymously, with a note explaining what had happened. So even before the blog, TBI was aware of the conditions of the Bekasi school. While I still had friends on the inside they told me six months later there was no change; no one had contacted Binsar and all was as usual.

 TBI was the school that I wanted to work for when I first moved here. They boast and speak so highly of themselves, but after seeing what I’ve seen (myself in more than one school) and hearing what I’ve heard from people spread in all the different schools, I can honestly say the premium only stands for premium bullshit. Their school and the name of TBI would do great if they removed certain people from certain positions and made the business student-oriented, not just about income. From what I have seen and witnessed since the Blog came up, I expected TBI to step up and admit their flaws, but they have just bullied people and cowered in the corner, trying to silence their staff and denying everything. These are not the actions of a “Professional” institute or “Premium” Language Provider. More like childish playground tactics.