Remember when Manpower Minister Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri said that all foreign workers in Indonesia would soon have to take a test to prove their Indonesian language proficiency in order to work in this country?
Well if you are a bule or other foreigner that was desperately brushing up on your Bahasa Indonesia to get ready for the test, you can put away your textbooks and kamus – the test is probably not going to happen.
Today Reuters published a story citing two anonymous government officials saying that the test was unlikely to become a reality.
“Coordinating ministers agreed last week that the planned regulation should be dropped. The details are now being worked out within the cabinet,” said one of the officials who did not want to be named.
The other government official said the test were being dropped due to complaints from domestic investors who said the tests would hurt their ability to acquire foreign experts.
While we do think it’s pretty fair to make all foreigners working in Indonesia have to learn at least some of the local language, at a time when the government is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to hire in-demand foreign workers, we can understand those businesses protesting the test so maybe this is for the best.
