The high cost of becoming a civil servant

Take a quick survey of people in my hometown of Pandeglang, some 150 km west of Jakarta, about their most wanted job, and I bet you that one profession would stand out over the rest.

Civil servant.

This position, at least in my hometown, is considered to be a "future saver", a safeguard for a rainy day. Meaning that while it may have a small salary, it is an almost guaranteed lifetime position and there is a pension to look forward to.

It also brings a load of prestige; mothers-in-law proudly announce the status of their sons-in-laws to all and sundry, even if the latter occupy a very low rank in the bureaucracy.

It's no wonder that some parents are ready to sacrifice everything to ensure their children in this "prestigious" position.

I know of a graduate from a Jakarta university who returned to his village to start a small-scale farming business.

He eventually managed to generate monthly profit averaging Rp 1.5 million -- quite a large amount compared to the cost of living there -- and employed two other people.

Despite his success, his mother kept insisting that such a job was not appropriate for a university graduate, and it would be better for him to become a civil servant.

Eventually, he could not stand the nagging. He left the business to become a civil servant, on a monthly salary of Rp 350,000.

Even though I have not visited all the other parts of this vast country, I think the comfort zone provided by becoming a civil servant has made it the universal profession of choice.

Of course, the basic economic law that "high demand" creates "high prices" also applies to the civil service recruitment process.

A friend of mine recently gave up on her dream to enter the administrative section in a city in West Java after she was asked to pay Rp 18 million in order to "pass" the test.

Another friend told me he was offered a position in another city administration for the price of Rp 20 million, while the "entry fee" for a teacher's position in the same area is Rp 18 million.

Perhaps it's easier to understand the crises affecting this country -- and how they remain unsolved -- when you consider that the selection process is conducted this way, without concern for intellectual merit or competence.

Despite having a civil servant father, neither my five siblings or I dreamed of being a civil servant. Seeing our aversion, our father, a retired mid-level official from the religious affairs ministry, would joke to us that the civil service was part of our "line of descent" as we had been brought up on the government's rice allowance.

Eventually, two of us took the bait, and are now civil servants. Thankfully, they did not have to pay for their jobs.

I myself quit work at a private company to spend more time with my toddler. It was not long before my mother started to grumble.

"You wouldn't have had to leave your job to spend time with your son if you were a civil servant," she said, urging me to take the recruitment test.

Well, if taking the job allows me to spend more time with my son, I might take her advice. But if it requires me to fork out money just to get myself the position, I think I will pass.

I would prefer instead to create my own small business with the money that would otherwise go into the pockets of corrupt officials. That would be a real "future saver" for me and the many millions of unemployed people in this country.

-- Yoyoh Hulaiyah Hafidz