Andrias Yose

      KOTRA is the acronym for Korea Trade Center. It is a non-profit government agency that promotes trade and investments. The agency is under the direct supervision of the Republic of Korea’s Department of Trade and Industry. Here in the Republic of Indonesia, KOTRA follows the guidance under the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.

     I had my first job in Indonesia with KOTRA. It is located on the 21st floor of the Wisma GKBI building in the Sudirman (Bent Hill) area. It was my first taste of working in a ’sorta’ like a corporate world.

     Had my own cubicle, furniture and stuffs. Aside from the stress that comes with the work, one of the things I liked working with KOTRA was that I didn’t have to pay income tax. Since it is a non-profit company, and it is also a foreign government agency, so international law follows.

     Another good thing is immunity, political wise. Though I don’t think local Indonesians would receive the full benefit of the immunity clause. LoL.

     I resigned 9 months later (December ‘03). Primary reason was because my brother’s condition grew worse. And I had a moral decision to make. My career, or my brother’s life. I chose the latter, and never regretted that decision.

     After he passed away near end of October ‘04, I had several calls from KOTRA office suggesting me that the door’s open if I wanted to return. In ‘05, I was offered a few more times, but I rejected. Well, mostly because I wasn’t sure whether I was ready.

     A few weeks back, I thought…, what the heck, why not give it another try. My gig as a Market Research Manager lasted merely a brief 9 months. I realized that I could become a better analyst or market researcher if I chose to invest more time in this field.

     So, here I am. 6 projects at hand, with an initial due date of December 6. I come to the office nearly everyday, including week-ends. Slept a meager 3 to 4 hour each night, and have my usual once-a-day meal. The feeling’s kinda nice, and the weirdest part was, I don’t feel stressed out just yet.

      I felt tired, which is natural, and I am not compensating enough by resting longer. Yet, I enjoy each moment. I felt perhaps I can do better than what I’d achieved a couple of years ago. Maybe, just maybe, I could set the research standard a bar or two higher again than before. If we, at the trade promotion, business development, and research divisions occassionally raise the bar a little higher, KOTRA could become a real powerhouse in the international arena.

    The good news was, the head office in South Korea decided to extend the deadline till December 9. That means I got 6 more days, inclusive of today, Sunday 12:37 AM. Yup, still in the office, tinkering around with the Laptop, the Business 2 Business (B2B) in this computer, and massive volumes of trade and manufacturing reports. I guess I could obliterate the entire ant colony with just 1 volume of the report. Two volumes would really be over-kill.

     Joke aside, I do wish there is an Indonesian Trade Center. The government forefront runner to promote, expand, and assist Indonesian companies, be it Small Medium Enterprises, or large scale corporations. In the long run, the whole nation’s economy could benefit.

     Martin Luther King Jr. said that he had a dream. He dreamt that one day his chldren, and his chidren’s children will not be discriminated against by the color of their skins.

      I used to have a dream. But this one dream of mine aint’ as grand and noble as MLK Jr.’s. I dreamt that I wanted to see the day when 10% of poor people in Indonesia move up into the middle-income bracket. And that 10% will create a ripple effect, far and wide, deep and strong, to pull the next 10% of those in the poverty bracket into the middle-income bracket.

      Now, I don’t want to dream just yet. I have to return back to my Excel sheet, where millios and millions of export and import digits are awaiting for my Midas touch to designate them into percents and and stuffs, and re-packaged them from that ugly Excel sheet into a beautiful and colorful diarama of the MS Word world of tables.

      So I bid thee adieu. Till next time. =))