There have been a lot of bad and inaccurate ideas thrown about in the attempt to discredit this blog. There have been the vile homophobic taunts, as if exposing corruption had anything to do with sexual preference; there have been the lies spread by Luke Preece that we were fired, since proven wrong by emails between ourselves and the school owners; there have been the noisy denials that what we are saying is true, followed by silence when we show documentary evidence that we are telling the truth; and there have been the endless contradictory messages from the detractors, claiming we are a joke no one takes seriously one day and that we are a menace to jobs and lives the next. How can we be both silly and terrifying at the same time? We have concluded that nothing Luke and his shrinking band of stooges says should be taken seriously. As the TBI Bekasi teacher yesterday said, all this name calling is just a way to try and undermine our resolve and morale. This teacher should know: when he first spoke out against the death threats and broken promises of Binsar Simorangkir, the TBI mafia ignored his shocking allegations of criminal activity within TBI Bekasi and attacked his grammar. In what Universe, one wonders, is a missing comma worse than thirty million rupiah in unpaid wages?

We now erase Michelle’s contradictory, misleading and abusive comments as soon as they spring up, but there was one idea she raised which I would like to address. This one has also been raised by more sensible and unbiased parties, so it deserves more thoughtful attention. This is the idea that we are costing jobs. Now Cameron rolled his eyes when he heard Luke Preece was talking about this blog costing jobs: this was the man, after all, who got everyone from Rob W. to Retty S. fired, all so he could stack TBI with his cronies. As Cameron put it, “Getting a lecture from Luke Preece about job losses and ruined lives is like getting a lecture about swimming safety from Jaws.” However, let’s just address it and then move on.

Firstly, TBI Malang has been re-branded not closed. The business was always viable, it was just that Luke and his moles were terrorizing the school manager and the honest teachers by spying on them and holding secret meetings to gain ‘dirt’ to send back to Luke in Jakarta. In his attempt to starve the school manager into submission, Head Office failed to send any expat teachers to Malang, ensuring customer complaints and lower student numbers. This was at the same time as Kuningan was given multiple new expat teachers because the school manager Eny was a Luke follower. Nia, who Preece planted in the school and who helped him slander the school manager constantly with baseless allegations, has been fired from TBI Malang. We wonder did Luke Preece give his former mole a new job or was she cast aside now she is no longer of use to him? Two teachers who had been spying for Luke and slandering the teachers loyal to the school manager also left, but they have been replaced by new local teachers. The new school is also in the process of hiring expat teachers, so in short, a TBI school closure does not necessarily mean job losses. Malang has simply been rebranded and the staff there already speak of a new atmosphere in the school, with the teachers and management feeling positive and no longer afraid of what slanderous reports will soon be made to Head Office by Nia. In terms of expat jobs, there are more expat teaching jobs in Malang as a result of this rebranding. There is, indeed, life after TBI.