Megawati shocks palace employees

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri broke with tradition on Tuesday with an impromtu visit to the Merdeka Palace, and the State Palace next door, causing a stir among officials working in the two vital buildings.

Some palace officials got the shock of their lives when Megawati suddenly canceled her plan to attend a weekly meeting of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), and asked her driver to turn around and drop her off at the nearby palaces.

A palace official said Megawati came to see how the employees keep the palaces clean and orderly.

"The President even checked the condition of the garden and every room in both the Merdeka and State Palaces. She wished to see everything in detail," one of the palace officials told The Jakarta Post.

"It was funny to see so many employees shocked when the President called them one by one from their offices and quizzed them about the condition of the palace," the official added. -- JP