Civil Servants Urged to be More Open and Responsive
The members of the Indonesian Civil Service Corps (Korpri) are the spearheads of public service for national development and unity. The changing era and advancements in technology and communications demand civil servants to be more open and responsive.
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The members of the Indonesian Civil Service Corps (Korpri) are the spearheads of public service for national development and unity. The changing era and advancements in technology and communications demand civil servants to be more open and responsive towards improving their integrity and performance.
Technological advancements have allowed the public to voice their desire for better services from civil servants. Increasing demand for quality public services has put pressure on civil servants to foster a work culture based on high discipline, the spirit of service, transparency and accountability.
“Civil servants must be able to use the advancements in technology and knowledge to collaborate with relevant parties. I urge civil servants at all levels to avoid being trapped by sectoral, organizational and personal egos. All problems are cross-sectoral and go beyond regional boundaries,” President Joko Widodo said on Thursday (29/11/2018).
“Advancements in information technology, especially in computerization and social media, facilitate the work of the bureaucracy. There is no other way but for civil servants to have an open mind, innovate and simplify their procedures,” the President said on Thursday at a ceremony commemorating Korpri’s 47th anniversary in Jakarta. The ceremony, held at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) stadium, was themed “Korpri Serves, Works for and Unites the Nation”. Korpri currently has 4.3 million members under the leadership of Zudan Arif Fakhrulloh, the Home Ministry’s director general of population and civil records.
The President said in his speech that he was grateful for the role of civil servants in national development. He said that Indonesia’s progress thus far was inseparable from the work of civil servants in all sectors, levels, regions and even abroad.
Some of the attendees wore traditional attire to the ceremony to reflect national diversity. The event also featured a variety of performances, including angklung, dances from Papua, Kalimantan and Java, the Annur Islamic boarding school marching band from Malang and the Surya Vocalia and Orchestra, with about 720 dancers and singers from all over the country gathering to celebrate Korpri’s anniversary. Thousands of people at the ceremony joined in singing along to the “Rayuan Pulau Kelapa” (“Charms of the Coconut Island”) angklung performance.
Korpri should use the occasion of its 47th anniversary to improve its work culture, especially in ethics, mindset and behavior. Work culture was important, as it was included in assessing bureaucratic reform.
Work culture
University of Indonesia public policy professor Eko Prasojo said that Indonesia’s bureaucratic reform involved mere structural changes. It had yet to transform the civil services’ work culture. These two aspects needed to be reformed together to foster civil servants that were highly qualified to respond to the changing times. “Bureaucratic reform has yet to substantially change the culture, ethics, mentality and behavior of the civil service. The basic values of a superior bureaucracy are yet to be implemented. [Our bureaucracy] often remains complicated, slow to respond and rife with illegal levies,” he said.
The greater public expects initiative, innovation and quick responses from today’s civil servants. Arry Saputra, 22, of Semolowaru in Sukolilo district, Surabaya, said that the electronic ID card service at the Siola public service mall was great. However, civil servants showed no initiative in informing people when their e-ID cards were ready.
Banda Aceh resident Ibnu Hajar, 30, said that it took him only one day to process his newborn’s birth certificate, but “processing the letter from the village head took a long time”.