Over the past few months, we have argued that with the ousting of TBI’s wretched old Director, the hapless and useless Ibu Mariam Kartikatrensi, the victory of her main rival, Ibu Nng Anhar, was complete. For many years, the shady yayasan (charity) USG had been the domain of Ibu Ning, while Mariam had thrown her…
At this blog, we have always tried to moderate and conservative in our claims. We have never stated that TBI will go bust on such and such a date; we do not want to indulge in speculation, and there’s no way that anyone outside Head Office can know exactly how bad the finances are. However,…
In recent days we have had confirmation of the shocking reports that not only has TBI Sudirman gone out of business, but TBI (The British Institute) has been forced to abandon its own Head Office on Level Four of the Sequis Centre. They used to be so proud of that office, right in the financial…
In this final part of this four part series of posts on TBI’s organizational structure- one which we have shown has been plagued by rent-seeking practices which have sapped the energy and competitiveness of the company from the start- we look at the real reasons for Mariam’s ouster in late 2015. Why was the TBI…
TBI is a company which has now had a lost half-decade or more. Between 2006 and 2010 a large number of new franchise schools opened under the guidance of Retty Setiawan, but in 2010 she was forced out of the company by Luke Preece, an Australian con-man who claims to have a degree in Geology…
“In a dysfunctional society or organization, people acquire wealth via corruption, rent-seeking, and theft. Perhaps they steal it at the point of a sword. Perhaps they acquire wealth through outright corruption. Perhaps they acquire wealth through holding a position in a completely dysfunctional management structure that requires internal politicking rather than actual performance.” That last…
We have decided to start focusing on Mariam Kartikatresni again. The legendary narcissist and dragon lady terrorized TBI for years, causing dozens upon dozens of subordinates to quit TBI over the years. This was a woman who would forget to give people targets or guidelines and then fly into a narcissistic rage when things didn’t…
What do gangster tattoos and the sheer, comic incompetence of the TBI Mafia have in common? Not much you would think. However, I recently read a review of a book called Codes of the Underworld: How Criminals Communicate which made me reconsider my opinion. I now see that gangster tats and the incompetence of the Lilies…
A few days ago we announced the pleasing news that The British Council, already in Medan, will be opening schools in Jakarta and Surabaya too, opening around March 2015. This will provide another respected, reliable alternative to unscrupulous local operators such as TBI (PT. Titian Buama Ilmu) or (even worse), Rumah Bahasa, a rogue school…
Over the past week or so, we have focused on the fact that TBI Bandung keeps losing teachers to Penabur due to offering a very low salary of just Rp. 11-12 jt. per month. With this post we want to look at the long history of these low wages outside Jakarta; additionally, we want to…
tbilanguageschool 