Minister of Public Works Disciplines Civil Servants for 'Flexing'
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Minister of Public Works, Dody Hanggodo, stated that his ministry has summoned two civil servants who were abroad to undergo further proceedings regarding the violations they committed.
Dody explained that the two civil servants were summoned for different reasons. One civil servant was summoned in connection with alleged bribery, while the other was summoned due to ethical issues.
“So, indeed, we have summoned two of our civil servants back. One is related to the issue of bribery, and that is the one in Japan,” said Dody, quoted on Saturday (16/05/2026).
According to him, the civil servant often showed an extravagant lifestyle or ‘flexed’ and even insulted one of the government’s programmes, namely the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme.
“The other one is in London. Ethical issues, often ‘flexing’. Then, it even insulted the programme, one of the government’s programmes called MBG,” he said.
Dody believes that such behaviour should not be done by a civil servant because every civil servant has a code of ethics that must be maintained.
“So, I think this kind of behaviour should not be allowed. After all, civil servants have a code of ethics,” he said.
Dody emphasised that civil servants receive salaries from the community’s contribution through taxes. Therefore, according to him, every civil servant needs to maintain behaviour and understand the diverse social conditions of the community.
“And civil servants are fed by the community,” said Dody.
He believes that ‘flexing’ behaviour can hurt people’s feelings, especially the lower and middle classes who also contribute to paying taxes.
Regarding LPDP scholarship recipients, Dody said that the matter would be returned to the Minister of Finance, Purbawa Yudhi Sadewa.
As for the process within the Ministry of Public Works, he ensured that follow-up actions would be taken after the civil servants in question returned to Indonesia.
“From my side, because it is a civil servant in the Ministry of Public Works, I can process it. When we summon them back, maybe they will come on Sunday, and on Monday, we will finish processing it,” he said.
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