Guest fee

From Sinar Pagi

On July 23, 1994 I went to the State Agency for Civil Service Administration to meet a relative who works in the office. I was told by the security guards to ask the cleaning boy to call my relative to come meet me. The office's regulations states that no visitor is allowed to contact anybody directly in their office.

Some cleaning service personnel have made themselves available for this task and offer their services to guests. They ask, "Can I help you? Do you wish to see somebody? I can call the person you want to meet, but, please give me Rp 1000 for the service."

Many visitors want to see some person or other to inquire about how the processing of their documents is going and to ensure that the paper work receives due attention.

But in my case, after having waited for hours, the person I wanted to see did not show up. I did not know why. It could be that the cleaning service boy did not convey my message. I could only sit and grumble in disappointment. This seems to be an accepted practice. Take it or leave it!

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