When we interviewed former teacher ‘LiPi’ for this blog several months ago she reported that Matthew France had asked her not to do overtime. What do you make of this fact?

Clearly, he was trying to disrupt school operations. He knew that it was hard to staff the school on Saturdays due to the DIKNAS regulations and that if no one wanted overtime we would have to close classes. I also find it hypocritical that he would say this to Lipi when he was always asking for overtime himself.

Is it possible that he told her not to do explicitly so he could get more overtime himself?

I don’t know what his motivations were. It is certainly possible.

We have also received information from Lipi that teacher Vi*****t told her ‘”he was terrified” of you when he started because Matthew France had warned him you were “out to get teachers”. What do you make of this statement?

It is just ludicrous. This is part of the reason, along with the dozens of frivolous complaints he made, which makes me sure he was trying to disrupt the school. As much as we have been accused of slander, it is clear to me that Matthew France was slandering me to other teachers. This has been confirmed by a number of people now.

When we first started this blog, teacher Craig C***** wrote to your tbi email account, “You were always fine to me but I was always scared I was going to be your next victim because of what I had heard from Matt and Colm.” What do you make of this statement?

That Matthew and Colm had been spreading false information and slandering me.

In this interview so far we have learned that Matthew’s complaints were as follows: he had to do a demo lesson before he started working in Jakarta, he had to wear a sock on his foot, he didn’t want to wear a tie, he didn’t want to come in 45 minutes before his first class, he wanted to stay at the military base and then didn’t like the accommodation there, the water at his hotelwasn’t hot enough, TBI didn’t pay his laundry bills while he was working in Bandung, TBI made too much money, he didn’t get enough money himself from TBI classes and TBI didn’t pay travel time. What do you make of this list?

I think it speaks for itself. The list just can’t be serious.

Did you book him a hotel with lukewarm water out of cruelty and spite?

Um, no, oddly enough.

Why did you ask teachers to come in 45 minutes before their first class?

To ensure they were there on time for their classes and to ensure they were doing at least a minimum of class prep.

Did you ask male teachers to wear ties as a way of tormenting them?

No. Wearing ties had been policy for as long as I worked there.

Luke Preece said in one email, “I have been working with Matthew very closely over the past eighteen months”. I find this odd as he never contacted teachers at my school once in 2011. How do you explain this contradiction?

Matthew was clearly running to Luke with complaints at every opportunity. I don’t think the volume of complaints is in question.

Did you ever discuss Matthew France and his grievances with Mariam? If so, what did she say?

She said that Matthew was clearly unstable. She also said he was stupid.

Why did she say he was stupid?

She said that only a stupid person would have posted those comments on Facebook. She said he was clearly a person who made foolish decisions and didn’t think through his actions.

Do you think Matthew was stupid?

Um, well, I didn’t disagree with Mariam when she said it. But really I just think he is grossly dishonest.

Do you believe that Luke Preece manipulated him at every turn to advance his own agenda?

Yes I do.

In recent days I have received a number of emails from someone calling himself ‘The Truth Regulator’ who clearly worked at TBI Kuningan, as he knows all the names of the teachers and staff. This person claims that Matthew absolutely hated Luke Preece by the time he left for any other school. He says Matthew hated both you and Luke by the end. What do you make of this?

I think that the ‘by the end’ is very telling. You see in November 2011 I forwarded Matthew all the emails in which Luke Preece was calling Matthew ‘a wanker’ and ‘a little school girl’ and so on. He probably realized that Luke had been using him.

How did Matthew respond to these forwarded emails?

He didn’t respond at all to me, but he told someone else later that he hated me more than Luke even though it was only Luke who had abused him. I found this very odd and it made me suspicious of Matthew and Luke’s dealings.

Our anonymous emailer also wrote that Luke Preece and his Bandung connection had nothing to do with getting Matthew his current teaching position at a National Plus school. Interestingly, this is the ONLY part of the dozens of claims you have made that he rejected the truth of. What was Luke Preece’s connection with recruitment at Matthew’s current employer?

He had a close female friend who was the head of recruitment at the school which Matthew currently works for.

Did Luke Preece ever mention Matthew France’s application process for his current job?

He certainly did. When the Facebook incident happened, Luke Preece offered to stop Matthew’s job application by using his connection in Bandung. He said he would do it as a favor to me.

Why didn’t Luke up on this offer?

Because it would have been completely unethical.

Matthew France has told many people he left TBI because of his anger at your management style. What do you say to this suggestion?

Matthew France had no choice but to leave TBI Kuningan at the end of 2011. He had no degree and so his contract wasn’t being renewed. There was some discussion of Luke trying to get him a job at a franchise school but Matthew even failed to respond to the deadline for this offer too. He then went on Facebook and pretended TBI had fired him without any warning. It just wasn’t true.

Luke had slammed Matthew France as “an affront to TBI values” in a leaked report from November 2011. Why would he then have lined him up with a job at a new school?

I guess you’d have to ask Luke. My personal belief is Matthew was doing Luke’s bidding the whole time. Matthew had supplied information which helped Luke get rid of Chris Needham and he undermined my reputation by making an endless series of complaints and slandering me to new staff members entering the school. Luke repaid him by lining up fat pay increases, lucrative overtime and his current job at a National Plus school.

Did Matthew ever make a complaint which wasn’t aimed at getting more money or easier working conditions for himself? For example, did he ever lodge a complaint about the quality of student facilities or lack of teaching resources?

No, it was always about more money for himself.

And Luke gave him what he wanted it seems. Thanks for your time.