Job Discussion Forums

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

I was working(illegally) at this school and agree with the many threads that say it is a bloody aweful place. Long hours, cheating management(who treat the teachers with utter contempt), ridiculous working conditions, petty annoying and pointless rules - e.g. you have to sign for your classroom keys and your remote control for the air conditioning - in case you steal them!
To be avoided at all costs.

[micropiglet]

Just a couple of thoughts from an International House Malaysia teacher....I don't agree at all with the above. I have happily been here for several years, and have no complaints. It would seem to me that, upon reading the other posts, misfortune seems to follow you around the globe!

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

So was I working in for IH Malaysia legally ?

What about "IH Jakarta" ? (The school which is not really an IH school but uses the IH logo etc.) Was I working in Jakarta legally ?

By the way, you can check other posts and you will see that other teachers have complained of working illegally for IH Malaysia.

[micropiglet]

I would suggest that to expect to have legal papers on arrival or even shortly after arrival in any school in Asia is hugely unrealistic. It would seem to be a case of find something to moan about here...
Whilst it is true that a number of teachers have been unhappy at IH Malaysia, I would say again that there are quite a number who have been here for quite a long time, and are quite happy.
I think that this needs to be seen in context-check out the posts that you have left thus far on this forum. Not much good to say about anywhere really have you? The track record kind of speaks for itself.

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

Below is an exact copy of any information sheet that I was given by
IH Malaysia before I left for Jakarta. Please note: �International House Jakarta � at the top. IH Malaysia is telling people (myself and others) that the school I worked for in Jakarta is an IH school � which is not true.
(I can send a copy of the original � which is on official IH Malaysia
paper � to anyone who wants it.)




INTERNATIONAL HOUSE JAKARTA
BLOCK 7D
COMPLEX WILKON,
JALAN BOULEVARD ARTHA GADING,
KELAPA GADING,
JAKARTA UTARA,
INDONESIA.

PERSON TO CONTACT :- MR. DENDI MOBILE : 0062281310138250)/
MS. LORNA

TEL NBR :- 00622145857235 OFFICE
FAX NBR :- 00622145857237 OFFICE


INTERNATIONAL HOUSE KULALA LUMPUR
PETALING JAYA
NO. 1 JALAN SS26/2,
TEMAN MAYANG JAYA,
KELANA JAYA,
47301 PETALING JAYA,
SELANGOR DURAL EHSAN

PERSON TO CONTACT :- SEAN HURLEY / AZLIN


TEL NBR :- 603 78040931
FAX NBR :- 603 78803554

[Chancellor]

[Eijse74]

xxx

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

As regards Eijse74,

This person has a grudge against me because I complained about his ex-boss in Yemen.
He has only written 7 posts on the entire website - all 7 attacking me. Did he join the website just to fire abuse at me ? The evidence speaks for itself.

[Bunny]

Having experience of working at IH Malaysia myself, I believe that Fitz is stating the facts clearly in this case.

Everyone working there knows that there is an IH Jakarta, which was at least partly set up by IH malaysia. When I was there, they were asking for IH Malaysia teachers to go over there for a short period. The salary etc was the same as for an IH Malaysia position.

I left IH Malaysia because I was very disappointed with the whole set up. But I can see why some people (though not many!) may like it. For me the pros and cons of working for this company are below. But, of course, this is personal opinion.

Pros:

1) Salary is always paid on time. I had always gotten mine. I never experienced any problems with delays or excuses and found it was always the correct amount according to the contract.

2) The students are swell. At the center, classes were multi lingual and multi national, which I found a huge bonus and very pleasant and a great cultural mix.

3) You generally get looked after ok. They have medical services, and support for any problems, but if a longer period of sickness comes along, you're on your own.

4) There were training sessions sometimes.

5) It's incredibly easy to get a co-ordinator position. You just have to accept the conditions and not kick up a fuss and you'll be offered one in no time.

Cons:

1) The time spent at the center is way too long. 6 days a week, with most of it not in the classroom. Teachers are often sitting round twiddling their thumbs till it's time to leave. Then there was the wait for the bus to take us home after our long days. 6 days a week is a major bummer, as even the local government offices get five day weeks on alternate weeks. It also means you can't really go away at weekends.

2) I was at the Cyberjaya center and it is in the middle of nowhere. You need to take an IH / Lim Kok Wing bus to get there and back from your appartment block (and you have to pay too!!). It takes forever to get into KL sometimes, when the traffic is bad, on weekends (Sunday anyway). However, It's quite a nice and new building and if you love black and dress in black, you'll have a party! So if anyone is going there, don't pack those lovely tropical and bright shirts!

3) There are many teachers there working illegally. I was. I was not told I would be illegal till I got there. It took forever to get my papers processed (at least I wasn't paying taxes on this though). Some teachers were brought in for 3 month contracts (your tourist visa length), were completely illegal, and did not have the required experience as set out by Malaysian law to get a proper visa and contract. They were mostly treated inferior (eg lower salary) than full contract teachers.

4) Holidays are trash. Only 18 days a year (one week is 5 and a half days so that means 3 weeks and a day and a half), plus public holidays. But hey, sometimes a public holiday falls on a Saturday so you get a weekend! Oh yeah, and we could occassionally take a day off at the end of a session (unpaid though).

5) The salary is low. It hasn't gone up in years and while you can live on it fine (after all, you don't have much time to spend it), you must be pretty damn careful. Don't set foot in one of those neat malls in KL or you could blow it all on your Sunday afternoon.

6) The atmosphere in the staff room was way depressing. Most people were very unhappy, and there was a bit of a divide between some of the expats and locals (some have been there for years).

7) Staff turnover (especially expat) is immense. People were coming and going all the time. Someone would arrive and be all bubbly and happy and excited, only to leave shortly after feeling really jaded and depressed.

You gotta beg for that paperclip! While there were plenty of books to photocopy, for some reason they were mean with other resources.

I could go on, but hey, it's over for me and I moved on to better things in China (whew!).

By the way Fitz, it's no use complaining to IH London. When I was at the center in KL some of us tried it. It fell on deaf ears entirely. We did some research to find out why and we concluded IH had changed dramatically from the honest to God organisation it was. We found conditions varied dramatically at different centers. Some of the European ones (and I mean some) still treated their staff with dignity and fairness, offering reasonable holidays, decent training sessions and salaries etc. But in the name of expansion, standards had dropped and the affiliation agreement had been watered down (eg before it stated that staff would get a minimum of 24 days holiday a year, but later agreements omitted this) meaning that many of the newer centers could pretty much do whatever they liked. Management changes in London were beneficial to owners but not teachers, expansion of the IH name and more affiliation fees was the way to go. We found that the inner core directors of affiliates, who held many of the IH decision meetings were from a few centers round the globe that were famous for overworking their staff (eg Mr Lacunza, San Sebastian) and enjoyed a high staff turnover. So with that line-up, hell, the only way to go was...to go!. Now I don't feel like a factory worker on a process line.

[Henry_Cowell]

[micropiglet]

The poster'scomments in this thread about the pro's and con's of working for IH Malaysia are well thought out and fair. I would agree. Having been here for over a year and a half, I would say that that is the way it is.
As for Mr Fitz....it's interesting to note that, as pointed out above, his posts are littered with grammatical errors (alongside claims of teaching prowess!)
It should also be noted that his time within IH Malaysia was brief, and certainly not without self-induced difficulties. Whilst it is not appropriate to discuss an individuals shortcomings in a forum,it is worth noting that there are often more to angry claims of mistreatment and dissatisfaction than might at first meet the eye.....

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

The claim the I �made up� the information sheet (which shows that IH Malaysia is claiming that there is an IH Indonesia,) is obviously false.

I quote Bunny: �Everyone working there knows that there is an IH Jakarta.�

I have also said that I will send the original document to anyone who wants it.

Also note that micropiglet, who is currently working for IH Malaysia, is not claiming that the document is false

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

Definition of the word PEDANT: one who overvalues, or insists on, petty details of book learning, grammatical rules etc. (Collins English dictionary.)

[micropiglet]

So what you are saying then, as an English teacher (and a self-confessed excellent one at that), is that grammatical rules and correct spelling are "petty" rules. Rather an odd approach...
As I said before, no one would argue that there are problems at the school, but it takes a big man to also see his own failings.....
I don't care about this document, and I never said it was "fake". To be honest with you, I don't think anyone gives a dam about any of this!
Oh well....
It's been fun anyway.
By the way, M.Swan has written an excellent grammar book-next time you write your own references, it may come in handy.

[fitzpatrick_thomas]

What I am saying is that the word PEDANT means: one who overvalues, or insists on, petty details of book learning, grammatical rules etc.
This is not an English teaching site.Things are often written in a hurry and many teachers make minor mistakes. Everyone seems to understand what I am saying - which is the important thing.