Open Letters from Minister Rini and BKN Head Zudan Amidst ASN Performance Debate
Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (MenPAN-RB) Rini Widyantini and Head of the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) Zudan Arif Fakrulloh have jointly issued open letters to all civil servants (ASN) across Indonesia. The messages were delivered via social media shortly after both officials attended a working meeting with Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR), where key performance indicators (KPIs) for ASN were discussed.
Rini first uploaded a handwritten open letter on her Instagram account @menpanrb on Saturday (17/7). In the letter, she expressed her appreciation for the performance of ASN and urged them to continue serving even when their efforts go unnoticed. “To all ASN whom I love and am proud of. Through this message, I want to express my respect and gratitude to all ASN who work every day to serve the community,” Rini stated.
She encouraged ASN to maintain their integrity and strengthen their spirit of service, hoping they would continue to serve the public despite a lack of recognition. In her letter, she acknowledged the daily struggles of civil servants, from working with limitations to facing high public expectations while managing personal fatigue. “Not all of your hard work receives applause. Not all sacrifices become headlines. But every child who gets a better education, every patient served sincerely, every aid that reaches the community, every road built, every piece of data managed correctly, is the real face of a working state,” she wrote.
Rini called on ASN to prove that the bureaucracy is not merely about administration but a force that brings hope. She concluded by stating that a developed Indonesia is born not from the work of one person, but from millions of ASN who choose to serve with heart.
Following this, BKN Head Zudan Arif Fakrulloh delivered a special message to ASN nationwide via the official BKN Instagram account on Sunday (18/7). Zudan called on civil servants to realise that their work, from classrooms and community health centres to laboratories and service offices, is solely to ensure the state remains present for the people. “6.7 million ASN, 6.7 million ways to love Indonesia,” the post stated.
Zudan highlighted the importance of silent service, noting that not all civil service work is in the spotlight. “In quiet classrooms, behind service desks, in every report carefully examined, that is where the pulse of the nation is maintained,” he said. He added that teachers, midwives, public order officers, researchers, nurses, and doctors represent millions of ways to love the country, expressing hope that God would bless every sincere effort for the nation.
The open letters came after Commission II Chairman Muhammad Rifqinizamy Karsayuda made statements regarding ASN that sparked widespread commentary on social media. He had earlier urged that ASN KPIs be tightened to improve the quality of their work output.