W

atchers of Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, including his potential rivals in the 2014 presidential election, must be wondering and perhaps are even worried by his latest move this week: the banning of masked monkey dances in the streets.

 What has motivated Jokowi to do this? How is saving a handful of little monkeys going to help him secure the nomination and then win the election in July?

 How many monkeys can he save by banning street performances, buying up the dancing primates and sending them to Ragunan Zoo? Will these monkeys, tiny as they are, have the right to vote so that they can seriously affect the outcome of the election?

Since Jokowi became the front-runner in the 2014 presidential race '€” by a huge margin over other candidates, according to most credible surveys '€” it seems whatever he does attracts public attention. Everybody watches his every move.

Although he has not secured a presidential ticket from any political party and has repeatedly refused to entertain questions about whether or not he will run, this has not stopped Jokowi-watchers from linking every action he does with 2014.

During a meeting with the owners of the monkeys, he said he wanted the dances stopped by 2014. There. He said the magic year. It'€™s now official: The monkey ban has something to do with election year.

Go figure how this will impact on the election outcome.

His rivals have tried to copy blusukan (impromptu visits where the governor mingles with the people), which have become Jokowi'€™s leadership trademark. But none have impressed like Jokowi. None have charmed the nation in the same way the governor has. Now that he is placating little monkeys, will his rivals for the 2014 race also ape him?

More significant perhaps is the signal this ban sends.

The ban has been a long time coming. It has been tolerated for too long and the public silence is equally disturbing. No single governor in the past even thought of or cared about the cruelty the little animal is put through.

Yet, it'€™s there for everyone to see. The monkey is beaten or whipped by the owner, it has a rope around its neck tugged hard, forcing it into submission so that it does whatever its master tells it. Sure, they can dance, but they dance out of fear.

Even children learn within seconds the inhuman (or should we say '€œinmonkey'€) treatment these animals are subject to.

There is nothing entertaining or artistic about the performance. Some call it freaky.

If other provinces refuse to follow this ban, then perhaps it is one more reason why Jokowi would make a great Indonesian president. He will be president not only of the people, but also of nation'€™s flora and fauna.

There is further '€œmonkey business'€ (apologies to the human'€™s closest cousin for using its name in the negative) that Jokowi must put a stop to '€” the way his own administration runs public services.

Finally, we have a governor who has learned firsthand what it is like to be on the receiving end of an abusive and incompetent government service. Jokowi saw for himself what Jakartans have to put up with when he tried in person to apply for a license to start a small business at the East Jakarta mayoralty last week.

Making an unannounced inspection, he found most of the staff lazing around, some reading newspapers and one even playing a game on his desktop.

When he eventually got their attention, one staffer was asked to explain the steps to secure the business permit. Jokowi did not get a straight answer and was even sent to the wrong window.

He did not like what he saw, threw the paperwork at the staffer and left furiously, but not before telling one of his own staff to take down the names of everyone in that office.

This is a side of Jokowi the public has not seen before. It turns out he is not always the Mr. Nice Guy we all thought he was.

What Jokowi experienced was something we all go through almost every time we deal with our bureaucracy. He had the luxury of throwing the paperwork in their faces. Now we wait for the next act of the governor in cleaning up the bureaucracy.

A few of these bad monkeys must definitely go. For the others, perhaps Jokowi can just throw in a few bananas to ensure they get their acts together.

 If he does that, be sure to dispose of the banana skin properly. We do not want the governor to slip and fall.

The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.