Holiday hangover prevails<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta slowly started to return to its normally hectic,
\noverpopulated routine on Wednesday after the national holiday of
\nIdul Fitri with the return of hundreds of thousands of migrants
\nfrom their home villages, mostly in Java.<\/p>\n
\"All of the employees in my division are already in today. But
\nwe are still not working at our usual pace,\" an employee of the
\nIndonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) on Jl. Sudirman,
\nCentral Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"But I am sure most things will return to normal by Thursday.\"<\/p>\n
She also added that the traffic was still light, which made
\nfor a pleasant commute from her house in Cibubur, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But some, like post office employees, could not afford to ease
\nback into the routine as there was lots of work to do.<\/p>\n
\"Some of our employees were even working last Thursday as well
\nas on Monday and Tuesday although we only provided limited postal
\nservices,\" head of holiday task force at the Taman Fatahillah
\nPost Office, West Jakarta, Hasrat Tannor, told the Post.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the post office opened 30 minutes late, at 8:30
\na.m., to allow the employees to partake in a brief Idul Fitri get
\ntogether, locally known as silaturahmi.<\/p>\n
\"Customers rushed in as soon as we opened. Most of them wanted
\nto pay electric and water bills,\" Hasrat said.<\/p>\n
He added that none of the employees were absent as they would
\nface severe consequences if they skipped work without a valid
\nexcuse.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta History Museum, located across from the post
\noffice, also resumed operations on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
There were some 130 people, mostly families, visiting the
\nmuseum.<\/p>\n
The mass exodus back to villages around the country, which
\nstarted last week, was especially evident among civil servants,
\nbut many private company employees also returned home.<\/p>\n
It was expected that after the long holiday, civil servants
\nwould be back at work.<\/p>\n
However, they seemed intent on living down to their reputation
\nof having notoriously low discipline and work ethic. Most public
\nservants did not show up at all on Wednesday, as discovered by
\nState Minister of Administrative Reforms, Feisal Tamin, who
\nconducted inspections at several ministries and other government
\noffices.<\/p>\n
During his inspection at the East Jakarta Mayoralty office, he
\nsaw that some time cards had been signed out all the way through
\nDec. 17, but they were nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n
\"This is immoral behavior showing a shallow understanding of
\nprofessionalism. We cannot tolerate this kind of action anymore,\"
\nsaid an enraged Feisal as quoted by www.detik.com online news
\nprovider.<\/p>\n
\"It would still be acceptable if the employees returned home
\nearlier after at least doing some work at the office,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Feisal also inspected the Ministry of Justice and Human
\nRights, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the office of the
\nState Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises
\nand the Ministry of Health only to find most of the employees
\nstill absent.<\/p>\n
\"I will evaluate the policy of granting leave to public
\nservants.<\/p>\n
\"We have given them the opportunity but still there are so
\nmany employees who regularly fail to perform their duties,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, most streets were still relatively quiet although
\nthere was some congestion at several areas, such as in Glodok
\nbusiness district in West Jakarta and nearby Jl. Gajah Mada.<\/p>\n
The traffic jam, however, was not as severe as usual,
\nespecially due to the absence of street vendors whose stalls were
\ndemolished on Monday night by City Public Order officers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/holiday-hangover-prevails-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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