It was 2009 when TBI first started to unravel in a noticeable way. It was then that Chris Needham presided over all three Jakarta Group Schools, appointed by the clueless Platts. School numbers were at rock bottom in two out of three schools but Needham thought that having a hundred students enrolled Fatmawati  was such a great achievement that it entitled him to roll Mariam as Director- doubtless egged on by the scheming Platts, his supposed friend. Of course it all came horribly unstuck, with Needham reduced to a sobbing mess and the wicked Platts and Preece gloating over his triple demotion, which they had largely engineered.

But by the end of 2012 Preece had metamorphosed into the new Needham. Stripped of the right to manage eleven franchise schools, he ought to have scurried off with his tail between his legs. Revealed as a proven failure with multiple business partners refusing to deal with him, he did a Needham and stayed on at TBI after his abject humiliation. In this phase of his TBI nightmare Needham was an awkward figure, often claiming that the next promotion was just around the corner. The incongruity of being demoted and claiming it was really the road to glory did not occur to Chris Needham. Convinced by his own narcissistic delusions, he thought that greatness awaited him even as he walked off to his next General English class, Cutting Edge in hand. 

Preece is now doing a fine Needham impersonation. With the franchise schools in Hery’s hands, he mutters darkly about how losing most of his territory is a victory and pretends he is happy with his progress- except when his mask slips and he starts swearing he would like to smash us in the head with a brick. We have compared him to Needham but that is unkind to the Netherlands-based truckie. Preece sank lower than the alleged Dutchman some time ago and hasn’t bottomed out yet. Of late he has even started defending Binsar: it has become a bit of a limbo contest now with Preece heading lower each time. It is clear to everyone but Preece where his self debasement and monstrous egotism must end.