This blog has ended Luke Preece’s hopes to being TBI Director. It has really only been downhill for him since the spiteful South Australian foolishly turned on Cameron, whom he had told dozens and dozens of compromising TBI secrets to in a bid to win Cameron’s trust and loyalty. It was Luke himself who gave us ample proof TBI was a crooked little fiefdom but presented himself as the great Aussie hope against Indonesian nepotism, collusion and corruption. This was always a dangerous game because Luke was not only involved in the sleaze himself but had a nasty track record of back stabbing other former friends. Once Preece had turned on Cameron, Luke’s many enemies told us they knew about Preece’s complicity in many crooked schemes and this only confirmed our realization that Preece was evil when he lied that Cameron was in danger of being deported if he didn’t resign. It was surely madness to tell Cameron so much dirt and then turn on Cameron, but Luke clearly displays the poor impulse control that accompanies major pathologies. This mistake was to prove the start of an extraordinary series of setbacks which has made him and TBI a laughing stock in the ESL world of Jakarta.

Within seven weeks of this blog starting, Luke’s best mate and partner in crime, Scotty, had been forced out of TBI Riau (to much cheering from his bullied former charges) and within eight months Luke had lost control of TBI’s 11 franchise schools too, replaced by an Indonesian by the name of Heri Sofiyandi. Even more remarkably, Luke’s frenemy Mariam K., the wicked TBI Director, also lost her much prized position as TBI Head Honcho. The deceitful Aussie had finally got his comeuppance and had been sent back to group schools, where low standards and shoddy performance are easily accepted. TBI partners and investors had seen through the shoddy Preece work ethic and con man antics, and were no longer having a bar of his nasty games and cheap excuses. So much for that snake oil merchant. But will Hery be any better? 

In some senses, Hery would have to a walking disaster to match Luke Preece’s demolition of the TBI brand image. Unless Pak Sofiyandi starts planting moles, installing his alleged mistress and best mates in key positions and slandering people for his own amusement, he will do better than Preece, but this is too low a standard to measure him against. The real question is whether the Blackberry-toting Sofiyandi can clean up TBI’s sullied image and instigate meaningful reform and change. Here he is off to a very bad start.

For TBI to show it is no longer a rogue organization, it needs to treat Binsar victims better and offer real redress for people who have been lied to by Simorangkir. Our suspicion was that the new Head of Franchise would just be another new face who represents the same old vested interests and does nothing to help wronged and persecuted teachers. Sadly, Hery Sofiyandi has shown that these fears were justified. When the Bekasi teacher went to him to complain that Binsar had broken his own word and Indonesian law by not paying THR, Hery refused to do the right thing and tell Binsar he had to act legally. In short, Hery played the old TBI game of backing up the franchise owner and screwing the teacher. He has just implemented the tired old unofficial policy of ‘expat teachers are replaceable: screw them’, which has been their dirty little secret for too long. This helps to reinforce our strong impression that the supposed changes at TBI are cosmetic and superficial and the same old corruption festers on.