New year of 2020 fell on Wednesday and before the holiday I had booked annual leave until the Friday. So, I returned to the office on Monday 6 January 2020, still not feeling well. There’s something about January that bring some kind of a slow vibe but also anticipation vibe of what’s about to come. Financial statement auditor job means that year end and beginning of the year are busy periods. That week, I already realized that I will be in Jakarta only until Saturday. I spent it by finishing what I had to do while in Jakarta and preparing for the upcoming trip. Since I was still coughing and feeling cold, I bought a pack of 10 facemasks at the minimarket in my office building. I have heard about corona virus news in China, even while I was in Singapore holiday last year, but didn’t think that it will spread beyond China.
On Sunday, I flew to Balikpapan with my team members and spent 3 weeks there. There were two interesting events happened in Jakarta office while we were in Balikpapan: one guy in the next office building was suspected with infection of corona virus and my office’s cashier died from a heart attack half hour before coming home. They were useful topics to talk about while my manager was coming to visit us in Balikpapan. Work is work, but we still enjoyed Balikpapan. I can’t say I love that city but I wouldn’t mind to go back there.
We went home at the end of January. Again, I only have one week in Jakarta before having to leave it again for Cilegon. It was in Cilegon when I received offer from my colleague to fill in a position. I remember spending at least 1.5 hour talking on the phone while I was in the client’s office. To be honest, I don’t really care much at that time. I don’t even expect to stay in KPMG Indonesia until promotion month. When I decided in new year’s eve that I wanted a change in 2020, I wanted to find a new job. I know that I threatened myself only for IELTS score, but deep down, I have another goal that I really want to fulfill, and yet I was so afraid that I wouldn’t achieve it. I was so terrified that I can’t even threaten myself. KPMG Indonesia was my comfort zone. It paid well, I can handle the work, I have friends in there, and I don’t know how well I will do outside of it.
Eventually, I decided to go to the interview and accept the offer. I submitted my one month notice on 28 February 2020. The first case of corona virus in Indonesia was confirmed on 2 March 2020. Before that, Indonesian netizens love to use corona virus as meme for humor, depicting that Indonesians are so used to dirt and germs that corona virus would never affect us. Oh how I really want to laugh out loud right now 😂. To be honest, I was one of the people who don’t care much about this virus. It hit my realization when the case number kept increasing and the government was considering to lockdown Jakarta. Is this the right choice to resign? Is this the right time to do it? Isn’t staying in KPMG Indonesia safer? Looking back, I can say that my decision to resign at that time was a total gambling.
Of course I was afraid the whole time before resigning. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to come to the office to celebrate, I was afraid that no one will come to eat together, and above all, I was afraid that this was a bad decision. April finally came and I resigned. Even on resignation date I thought about what it would be like if I recalled my resignation. My friend drove me home and she told me how her sister told her not to resign at that time because of the uncertainties around.
Now, December 2020, I think at least 40 people have resigned after me, all within 8 months. Those who still stay are looking for opportunities to get out of KPMG Indonesia. I’d say that so far I don’t regret my decision in April 2020
