Some have taken a two-week leave from work; some have brought their families with them. However, they are not on a holiday. They are the volunteers of the 2018 Asian Games.
Kasmuri, 24, is one volunteer. On Wednesday (8/8/2018), Kompas met him at Cawang train station in East Jakarta, right after he finished teaching at a community foundation in Bekasi, West Java.
The youngest of five siblings joined Asian Games volunteers’ team after undergoing two stages of selection. In the first selection stage from September to October last year, the math teacher failed. “I was late in submitting my personal data,” he said.
After passing his second attempt, the Indonesia 2018 Asian Games Organizing Committee’s (Inasgoc) transportation section assigned Kasmuri to the Athletes Village in Kemayoran, Jakarta. He is responsible for ensuring the availability of buses and the athletes’ timely departure to sports venues.
For Kasmuri, serving as a volunteer means upholding the nation’s reputation. He realizes that serving as volunteer entails a willingness to sacrifice. “It’s not about money at all,” said Kasmuri, who lives in a low-cost apartment complex in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
Negative image
Also on Wednesday, some 9 kilometers from Cawang, Fajar “Faye” Ariessita was busy at his office at an energy company. The 1985-born petroleum engineer is a volunteer in Inasgoc’s international relations and protocol department. She is tasked with accompanying VIP guests during the Asian Games.
“I have a personal mission to tear down the negative image of Indonesia, which is often called a backwater and a [den of] terrorists,” said Faye. In order to accomplish this, she requested leave from her company. She said she would strive to give her utmost in serving her Asian Games guests according to the principle of equality.
She said that she found joy in volunteering at various community centers over the last three years, and that volunteering in the Asian Games was her way of giving something back to the nation for everything she had enjoyed through the years.
Meanwhile, Gilang Vega has brough her 1-year-old from Karawang, West Java, to her parents’ home in Bintaro, South Jakarta. She said that she wanted to be a volunteer, as she felt that her past was calling to her.
Gilang is a former national shuttler who paired with Samantha Lintang in women’s doubles. “When I was an athlete, I did not have the chance to play in the Asian Games. I can participate now as a volunteer,” said Gilang, who is a group leader under Inasgoc’s sports and medals games services at the Istora Senayan Sports Stadium.
Gilang, Faye and Kasmuri share the belief that participating in the Asian Games be a chance of a lifetime. Nobody knows when Indonesia will host the international sports event again after hosting it in 1962 and 2018.
Long process
Inasgoc data shows that volunteers are active in 22 of its 31 sections. The selection process comprised three stages. In the first, IT-assisted stage, volunteers were scored according to the criteria of the selection committee. In this first stage, 23,097 volunteers from 18 to 40 years old registered online, including 392 foreign volunteers.
In the second stage, the Inasgoc evaluation section reviewed the volunteers’ personal documents with help from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), the National Police’s Densus 88 antiterrorism squad and the Home Ministry.
The next and final stage consisted the psychology test and an interview in Jakarta. In the end, 11,563 local volunteers, 30 foreign volunteers and 857 military and police volunteers were selected.
The volunteers then underwent training on sports, the Asian Games and the values of volunteering, as well as communications, general etiquette, tourism and culture.
Fandi Ahmad, the field manager at Inasgoc’s human resources and volunteer section, said that instilling the idea of not seeking financial gain was among the challenges of training the volunteers. Inasgoc did not use the terms “salary” or “payment”, and instead provides a per diem.
The per diem covers Rp 150,000 (US$10.26) in meals and another Rp 150,000 in transportation. Volunteers are also eligible for free Transjakarta bus rides and are given uniforms, including footwear, a bag and a cap.
It is hoped that the volunteers will serve as ambassadors that can help the nation stand tall and proud.
