Vice President Ma’ruf Amin listened to the aspirations of the Indonesian diaspora in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan during his working visit to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday.
While lending an ear to them, Amin was drawn to Rindi’s story, an Indonesian teacher in Kyrgyzstan.
“There are 13 (Indonesian) teachers in Kyrgyzstan. There is a positive image of Indonesian teachers here. In the past, there were many teachers from the Philippines, but over time, they see that the quality of Indonesian teachers is also good,” Rindi told Amin.
Rindi attended the dialogue in Tashkent via the Zoom platform from Kyrgyzstan.
Rindi spoke of having faced a language barrier during her initial times in Kyrgyzstan. However, over the course of time, it could be overcome, as she teaches in an international school that imparts education in English.
She revealed that one of the Indonesian teachers in Kyrgystan was named the best teacher in a teacher competition in the country and said teaching jobs there can be an opportunity for forging cooperation between both nations.
Rindi also drew attention to the difficulty of obtaining Indonesian products in Kyrgyzstan.
“The products that come in here a lot are from Thailand. In fact, Thailand’s products are similar to ours. Therefore, I think Indonesian products can enter Kyrgyzstan as well,” she remarked.
Responding to Rindi, Amin expressed amazement over the fact that teachers from Indonesia can be accepted abroad and have clocked good achievements. He believes Rindi’s story proves that the quality of Indonesian teaching resources is great.
“That is, our teachers are not bad, as some teach in Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Brunei, and even in America and Europe,” he stated.
Furthermore, Amin affirmed that the Indonesian government will continue to encourage the exports of domestically made products to various countries.
Amin also listened to Heni’s story, an Indonesian spa therapist in Uzbekistan, who said she is content with the salary there.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan Sunaryo Kartadinata stated that there are 157 Indonesian citizens in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, with 99 in the latter and 58 in the former.
