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Jokowi happy with Susan Zulkifli

Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo seems to be satisfied with public services in Lenteng Agung, despite many residents’ rejection of subdistrict head Susan Jasmine Zulkifli

Indah Setiawati (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, January 11, 2014

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Jokowi happy with Susan Zulkifli

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overnor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo seems to be satisfied with public services in Lenteng Agung, despite many residents'€™ rejection of subdistrict head Susan Jasmine Zulkifli.

Unlike during some of his previous impromptu visits, Jokowi was warmly greeted in the subdistrict by two female and one male front-desk officers and found that all the staff were already at the office by 8 a.m.

Wearing his familiar white shirt, Jokowi toured the office for around 10 minutes to check the facilities and services for the locals. The governor also found the waiting room for visitors comfortable, as it was air-conditioned and equipped with a TV set, mineral water and mints.

He also asked a female staffer on the length of time needed to produce a relief letter (SKTM).

'€œIt takes only 15 minutes, sir,'€ the female staffer told the governor as quoted by tribunnews.com.

In a previous impromptu visit to the East Jakarta mayor'€™s office, the governor expressed his anger when he was unable to meet with front-desk staff tasked with serving the public, and when other staffers informed him that it took three days to issue such a relief letter.

In his visit to the Setiabudi subdistrict office in November, 2013, the governor left directly for his office in City Hall after finding the subdistrict head office still closed at 9 a.m.

The governor blushed when asked by reporters whether the front-desk officers in Lenteng Agung had met his expectations.

During a briefing with subdistrict and district leaders last week, Jokowi asked them to follow the standard of customer service found in private banks, where officials greet customers and offer fast service.

'€œYes, they are good. They gave convincing answers,'€ he said.

Jokowi said he had visited the subdistrict office to check on the performance of its staff. As it was an unannounced visit, he said he was not concerned to find that subdistrict head Susan was not in the office.

Separately, Susan said she was attending an aerobics class at the South Jakarta municipality office at the time of Jokowi'€™s visit. She said she only learned about his visit from her staff after it had ended.

'€œWe were scheduled to join the regular exercise class today [Friday]. I was with the mayor and other civil servants,'€ she said. During her early days in office, Susan, a Protestant, faced rejection by some of the area'€™s residents who asked the city administration to dismiss her for not being a Muslim '€” the majority faith among the locals. The governor and Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama dismissed the rejection appeal, saying that everyone needed to respect the results of the administration'€™s recruitment process.

Susan was one of 415 local leaders inaugurated by the governor in June last year after passing a series of tests in an open-call selection.

Shortly after his visit, Jokowi attended a ceremony marking the 41st anniversary of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at its headquarters, which are only 1 kilometer from the Lenteng Agung office, kompas.com reported.

The governor turned up wearing a black shirt and a red suit. He was greeted by PDI-P politician Sabam Sirait and the party'€™s secretary-general, Tjahjo Kumolo.

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