Vacuum in the collective brain – Understanding the brain drain in Indonesia

Analysis – Brain drain is a ‘brainchild’ of the globalized world we live in. It’s a phenomenon which characterizes (in an Indonesian context) the push and pull factors that make skilled Indonesian workers emigrate to the ‘Global North’.

This so-called drain of brainy workers isn’t just an issue for talent acquisition associates at unicorn fin-tech companies. When skilled workers emigrate, the economical and cultural drive for innovation might lose its most talented careerists and eggheads. – At least if interpreted from a rather traditional perspective: Good people leave the country for good–ahm–no…–better opportunities. Notions like colonialism, capitalism, nationalism and exploitation of Indonesia’s resources (scholarships) define this interpretation of brain drain.

Brains go where brains are valued - [Philip Abelson]

From a ‘comprehensive’ or globalist POV, brains ain’t drain. Highly skilled workers who expatriate themselves to other countries in favor of a more sane and content life (without bad air and bad vibes), aren't automatically deserters. Backing this very POV, competent emigrants might not only say goodbye to Indonesia in favor of higher salaries abroad – ‘Brains go where there is challenge. Brains go where brains are valued for intellectual as well as practical achievements’. (Philip Abelson, American physicist and science writer)

Grasping Indonesia’s situation

Many of the Indonesian outbound students who were lucky enough (either out of intellectual talent or affluent folks) to go to college abroad, were seasoned in the United States. This ‘intercultural’ relation of Indonesians in the US dates back to Suharto’s era. Many Indonesian technocrats received their higher education abroad. Prabowo Subianto for instance, an archetype of a dynastic politician, went to school in London. ‘Oh, lovely!,’ Queen Elizabeth II, god bless, might have said if she only ever met Prabowo.

In terms of workforce, over nine million Indonesians were working overseas in 2016, which amounts to almost seven percent of the total number of Wakanda-workers. However, the majority of the Indonesian diaspora (Indonsians living abroad) are low skilled workers (based in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia for instance). The block of people who cause the said ‘brain drain’ is numerically much smaller.

As in the case of Indonesians emigrating to Singapore, according to figures published by the Indonesian Immigration Director General Silmy Karim, a quantitatively small number of only 4,000 Indonesians emigrated to Singapore between 2019 and 2022. So, why even bother? It looks like we are rather far from an exodus of brains, doesn’t it?

Is brain drain a bad thing after all?

Depends. The Indonesian Diaspora Network is a consolidation of Indonesian top-tier expats who lobby for low-threshold citizenship policies. People who would profit from their efforts are for instance former Indonesians who gave up their birth-nationality in favor of their new homeland, having to bite the bullet that they can’t really retrieve their +62-membership.

The Chinese diaspora is commonly associated with running a ‘Bamboo Network’, establishing positions of Chinese interests abroad. In an Indonesian context, the Netherlands is for well-known reasons home to many former Indonesians and mixed-race families. With a climate which supports exchange in a reciprocal way, brain drain might become ‘brain circulation’ instead.

As of the status-quo, Indonesian expats do not really have any pull-factors (work environments of less quality, smaller salaries, no market-need for their distinctive abilities) to come back home – or are even hindered to come back (single citizenship policies).

Why do the brightest bulbs move abroad?

On a primary level, in favor of better working wages, regulated working hours and better job opportunities align with the expat’s formal and social skills.

Who wouldn't want to work for someone who actually appreciates you for what you do?

On a meta level, other factors might be determining the decision-making of Indonesian expatriates who willingly exchange their bidet sprayer for some coarse toilet paper. Who wouldn’t want to work for someone who actually appreciates you for what you do?

As noted in interviews conducted in the research linked here, Indonesian expats allegedly associate their reluctance to work in their home country with a disadvantageous work environment. Maladaptive social skills of management-members and collectivist social structures which appear counter-productive to innovative and critical thinking portray this alleged subpar work environment in Indonesia.

Indonesians who claim acknowledgement abroad

Every time an Indonesian scientist, academician or entrepreneur does incredible things abroad, the whole country seems to be proud of one individual’s achievements. What’s commonly blanked out is the question whether their achievements would be recognized – or let alone even made possible here in Wkwkw-Land.

So, who is to blame? Before we point at the GOvERRnMEnTTT, let’s have a look at whether the Indonesian lawmakers already brainstormed a little on brain-drain-pain.

What’s the government doing so far?

Well, they do something. It’s a classic mix of lip-service manifestations and actual brainteasers. Nadiem Makarim, formerly boss of Gojek, is since 2019 the Indonesian minister for basically all brain-related agendas: Education, Culture, Research and Technology. As for the start-up sector, Makarim accelerates its potential with more entrepreneur-friendly policies. Just as Makarim himself, many start-up entrepreneurs in Indonesia studied and worked overseas prior to building what’s commonly called ‘karya anak bangsa’.

Since his appointment in 2019, Makarim has also presented ‘Kampus Merdeka’ – basically an ‘ART CALLS INDONESIA’ for uni-opportunities including international exchange and mentoring programs. Under Makarim, the higher education system also received a more liberal coat of paint. In 2021, Australian Monash University opened an international branch campus in Jakarta.

President Joko Widodo highlighted the responsibilities of LPDP-awardees. Jokowi himself called on scholars who are sponsored by the government’s Education Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) to return home after completion of their studies. Even though ‘the wages here might be lower and other countries’ facilities might be nicer,’ the president admits, as reported by the Jakarta Post.

The LPDP scholarship programme requires its awardees to return to Indonesia within three months of graduation. A measure to ensure those brains funded are not going to bunk off. In 2018, the LPDP programme admitted a total of 1,789 applicants and between 2013 and 2018 offered more than 20,000 scholarships.

The longing to live abroad – a contemporary business model

Being able to see the world and being exposed to other cultures – an incredible privilege for those who are able to travel. YouTubers (every single vlogger my mother watches), the movie industry (e.g. ‘London Love Story’) and education consulting firms successfully translate this longing into real revenue.

How to make the best out of it?

As it is a bit hard in a globalized world to hold back individuals from pursuing their dreams, what could be done to diminish the effects of brain drain?

One idea supported by PerCa (Perkumpulan Masyarakat Perkawinan Campuran Indonesia, Indonesian Mixed-Marriage Society): Dual citizenship. Urging the government to facilitate more options for children of mixed marriages, PerCa highlights the consequences of too opaque citizenship policies in an interview with the Jakarta Post: ‘Our strict citizenship law tends to alienate (young people); it’s like we’re kicking them out ourselves.’

However, dual citizenship might not be the ideal pull-factor as well to have skilled Indonesian workers overseas maintaining professional relations to their home country. Dual citizenships might open the floodgates to opportunism (tax flight e.g).

One former member of Jokowi’s administration offers a prime example on this matter. Former Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar was removed from his post in 2016 after his dual citizenship was revealed (just to be appointed Deputy Minister of the same a few weeks later).

Anecdotal reasons to move abroad and stay abroad

ACI reached out to two Indonesian expats who bring in anecdotal evidence on why highly skilled workers seek opportunities overseas. RM (24), based in Thailand, is a software engineer working with one of the world’s largest online travel agency corporations. Asked on what makes working abroad better for him than working in Indonesia, RM highlights the heterogeneity of the department he joined. He enjoys the positive induced effects of the company’s culture such as discussions with supervisors on eye level, as well as the financial and personal appreciation he receives for the creation of new systems. Even though he had previously worked with another foreign company’s Jakarta-branch, the work culture in the company’s Jakarta offices was still very Indonesian: Lack of appreciation, irregular working hours, bad micro management and too low financial appreciation of RM’s work performance and accomplishments.

‘I feel more sane in Bangkok,’ RM explains to ACI. Would he consider moving back to Indonesia? ‘I miss my friends and family and I regularly travel back home, but I don’t see myself based in Indonesia again,’ he confines.

In Indonesia, he could not see himself being able to leverage his experiences

RE, 31, is an Indonesian Product Manager working with a long-standing and renowned manufacturer for electrical equipment. An LPDP scholarship awardee, he studied electrical engineering in Germany and blended in with the German culture. Unlike what the LPDP programme requires, he didn’t move back to Indonesia after receiving his master’s degree abroad. For him, it is personal metrics such as clear and secure working conditions, regulated time management and good salaries in his professional domain in Europe which make him stay in Germany. In Indonesia, he could not see himself being able to leverage his experiences. Germany already became RE’s new home.

How to support local talents?

Every industry might have their own solutions. As ACI’s roots are somewhere between arts and sociopolitics, we (if at all) only feel authorized to sketch some ideas for the creative industry in Indonesia. Expats and any other sort of individuals with a good set of contrary and various cultural experiences, commonly have developed the abilities to act as a bridge between two different worlds. For fin-tech start-ups it might be beneficial to have masterminds in the team who act as bridges into high-value networks or establish a good balance between individual and collectivist working schemes.

In terms of the art industry, we couldn’t think of any better negative example than ourselves – ACI. Innovation needs a good balance of innovators and recipients who can process and use the products offered in a way which allows said innovators to make revenue. A company has to convince customers of the added value.

ACI is perhaps a solid example of how innovators are bound to fail in Indonesia. With a ‘product’ so directly tailormade to leverage the local art industry, we have a hard time sustaining our product for the very reasons explained in this article. Innovations (in the creative industry) come from bottom-to-top or from the outside, but in a culture more privileging those at the top, innovators might perhaps not find the most amicable conditions.

Braindrian1

Well, after all it’s up to them whether they choose to stay abroad or come back to Indonesia, no?

Iya siiiih… .

(Marten Schmidt, ACI, 30.08.2023 - credits for all photos displayed in this article: pexels)