But when I met Sam and his colleagues I started to wonder actually I can have a job with normal hours meaning 8 to 5, the thing is it’s not easy to find one here in Indonesia/ Jakarta. And now I started to be at the office early 9am and go home on time at 6pm, but with Jakarta traffic jam I will be at home at 7pm *sigh*

I promise to my self that I won’t let the job takes control of my life, there is other life than work.

nice post.

From my experience I have to say that it does not pay to live a work life like that. It is counter productive.

My last employ was in Thailand. My job responsibilities more than trebled in less than 10 months. Pay was exceedingly good and the executive perks along with it. Even that did not compensate for my health and mental well being.

I retired from the madding employ world and set up my computer business. No amount of money or job title would seduce me back to that senseless work life ever.

I hope that you will soon find a solution to this unhealthy life style.

To me this is the stupidity of it all. It is not really an expat thing for me, but rather paying for the value that you are seeking to acquire.

The fact that the offers are there indicates that the work you do has and is valued. Yet, those offering the work are too cheap to step up to the plate and play (in this case pay).

This is the reason that I am contemplating leaving these fine shores and heading to a climate where I am paid what I am worth for what I contribute. Or with a bit of luck I might find an Indonesian firm willing to ante up but either way if I work hard then I expect to be rewared well.

Sorry for the short little rant!

I agree with Andie you are better off doing what makes you happy rather than pursuing those things that might pay the bills but leave us underwhelmed on all other fronts.

I feel so lukcy that like you, I now have much more time for myself and quality time for my husband.

I loved my jobs in Indonesia, but now, although I dont necessarily live my job, I love my life.

Oh and like you (your family) I treat my maids with respect and like family.

In case that ‘M’ character is wondering, there are many people like you and me, who loved our domestic helpers and treat them like family. I used to take mine out to restaurants and cinemas, just because I wanted them to relax and unwind. God only knows they have a tough job as well.

cheers girl, and have fun in Jakarta!

“As you’ve lived in the West I hope you now have more consideration and compassion for them than you did in the past. How about treating them to lunch for a change.”

You made Anita seemed like she was anything but a compassionate and considerate person and you don’t even know her, what exactly are you trying to imply?

That’s the sickest thing I’d heard about work, so far!! lol

@Anita:

If only this posting was made a year ago when I was feeling like a no-life workaholic whose life only consisted of work, work and more work. I got the feeling that the people in the company I worked for actually lived to work, not worked to live, and I had the sudden fear of becoming like them.

I got so caught up in the habit of working late that I could no longer saw the ridiculousness of it – I could work up to 11 pm and the workload would still be adding up again the very next day. It would never end, and my manager, knowing that I worked late, even piled up even more papers for me to do, and that placed me in an evil and deadly cycle I couldn’t break, unless I stopped working overtime.

I did finally get the habit of going home at exactly 4 pm, and I found out that it was the very same day that my senior and manager took a sudden dislike of me and started giving me a hard time – as if what I’d done was an unforgivable crime or something.

You’re right Anita, it’s just work. But people think it’s more than that. It’s their lives, it’s the place that they earn money, power, position and respect. And that’s what’s so sad about it, because when they do, they’ve actually missed all the fun they could’ve had with their families at home, and they’ve robbed themselves of their personal down time of halting everything and just breathe and enjoy life for a moment.

Life is meant to be fun – why are people making it difficult to live up to?

@Toni: well, I don’t think we have much choice. Everyone else works late, and even if we want to go home on time, the pending tasks are there, we still must wait our counterparts/colleagues to deliver the job before we could do ours.

@Rish: naughty, naughty!

@Mulia: interesting idea about expat bloggers. Maybe because they could use their time much more efficient than us, maybe because they refuse to work overtime unless it’s necessary because they value themselves and their time?

@Ajeng: people work for consultancy or service industry are usually like that. Clients have zero tolerance and demand things quickly. The stupid thing is, most of us (well, our boss) can’t say NO to them and in result must work twice/three times longer to achieve the unrealistic deadlines.

@Anonymous (M): you don’t know me, and rather than asking, you throw your judgment and prejudice. You’re talking to someone who’s different from most Indonesians, and if you follow my blog, you’d know that I’m not like what you picture in your sod head.

Are you trying to imply that I don’t have a right to complain because I have had maids working 24/7? Is that it?

Let me tell you one thing. When I was in Indonesia, I DID NOT have maids/cooks/gardeners/driver. I lived by myself and I was (am) perfectly capable of taking care of myself without helpers. I left home when I was 18, and even that, in the “kost” I didn’t let the communal maids clean my room because 1)I didn’t trust them and 2)I cleaned much better & faster than them.

And who was talking about “lifestyle”? I was talking about people being abused at work without having much choice. It’s not what they want, it’s more because they have to.

Regarding treating my maids, well since I don’t have one, I’m going to tell you stories about my parents’. If we go out for a meal, my parents’ driver sits down at the same table as us. And of course we pay for whatever he orders. Do you do that your driver or you just throw 20,000 and tell him to get meals off the street? The maid gets day-off, one gets to fly to her ‘kampung’ twice a year, plane and all. When a family member got married, my maid got her wedding uniform, hair and make-up done just like me and the rest of the family. So don’t you come here and preach what I should do and pretend you’re holier than me whilst hiding behind ‘anonymous mask’. When you point your finger to me, the other fingers point back at you. I hope you stop judging people before you know them. How about practicing your preach for a change. Or treat me lunch because you’re being rude.

@Colson: yeah, we have lots of homework to do. The company I used to work for applied its international standard of overtime, for a while, before realizing that some of the staffs ‘abused’ the policy to get more money. Now the staffs only got free dinner…

To me it’s a better read than most anthropological, sociological or social-psychological studies. It really gives some insight in a few slices of Indo reality.