Lately I had so many experience with the word "professional" and it somehow becomes either too understated or overrated.
Last year, while organizing a concert & workshop from Marcel Becker, a professional double bass player who is now a co-principal at the Liverpool Orchestra, I tried to get in touch with a double bass teacher to offer him the opportunity of receiving tuition from Marcel. The man told me, "I don't need another tuition. I'm a professional player." When I told Marcel about this, he just cracked and said that it was a shame since he was very eager to meet another "professional".
On another occassion I contacted a young cellist for a project of presenting piano trios from the composers of the first Viennese schools. After a brief description on the phone about the event, he proceeded to the million-dollar question: "How much will I be paid?" Well, I told him at that time that no artists will be awarded with money because this is an educational project, both for the society and for the artists. Then he regretfully (and half mockingly) said, "I'm sorry, I can't play without fee. I'm a professional." The funny thing was, this cellist later gave a recital and instead of being paid as a normal pro, he had to pay by giving free tuition to some kids at a music school which sponsored this concert. I guess in this case he went back to being an amateur.
Long before that, I had an uncomfortable situation with some people from the radio where I used to work with in promoting an event. I notice that the company has a squad of silly employees who love to do unnecessary things before a concert. The first annoying thing was calling me 3-4 times a day just to confirm and re-confirm an interview schedule. I was hoping that the ring-ring would stop as soon as they realized that I have never forgotten any schedule, meetings, or anything of that sort, but they seem to have either their fingers or their ears glued to the phone. The second annoying thing was this: on concert day, they sent 3-4 people to the concert venue to literally bug me with interruption about where to put the banner, when is the right time to do (another) interview with the artists, when can they take the banner, etc, but the rudest thing of all was that they never actually entered the concert hall to listen to the music. During the performance they just sat at the backstage, chatted and waited until break or the end of the show to do an interview and take picture. During one concert, one of the artists threw them out of the backstage because they made so much noise. One of these A-team later complained to me. I was actually amazed how indifferent they were to standard work ethic and they were talking as if what they did was normal. So I told him that what they did was not professional indeed. A letter of apology was issued afterward but at that time I had ended all contract and was not very enthusiastic about starting a new one.
Some (Indonesians) also relate professionalism with being strict and straight, resulting in less humanic relationship with other. A showcase of feelings or sentiments would mean personal, and in professional world, people never take anything personally. But I met a super nice French woman who ran a cultural centre in Jogja and has worked all over the world in various cultural institutions. Highly capable and professional, the surprising thing was, she offered me a place to stay when I first came to Jogja, was very friendly and welcoming when I went there for the second time and the third time we already exchanged kisses in the cheek. There was no cool image or an air of untouchability in her. She was very warm, very generous, very open.
It's such a shame that many workers in Indonesia are still very foreign to the sense and feel of this word. For many people, being a pro always meant being paid for what you do. There is not a class at schools to learn that being a pro relates more to how you do the job you're paid for. Millions of people search for employment every year in this country, but only very few who are lucky enough to incorporate this feeling of professionalism in their workplace can actually build a career. The rest would be just a mediocre employees, giving mediocre service to the community and producing a mediocre nation.
(Imported old blog, originally written on June 9, 2008)
