J

akarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama'€™s open-door policy has attracted residents from all walks of life to come and discuss their problems with him; they have mentioned everything from broken street lights to broken hearts.

Ahok implemented this open-door policy by giving out his phone numbers and BlackBerry PIN to the public and setting up Twitter and Instagram accounts to interact with netizens.

The governor has even been indulging residents who wait for him at City Hall every morning by taking photos with them. He has gone so far as to attend weddings that the city'€™s residents have invited him to. For those interested in more formal modes of communication, his office is open to residents who want to meet, and anyone who wants to send a letter is welcome to.

Every day, Ahok receives 300 letters, 500 to 1,000 text messages and four to five impromptu requests for meetings, not to mention all the invitations to weddings and funerals.

Governor'€™s office staffer Maruhal Tunas told The Jakarta Post that Ahok receives letters from Jakartans and non-Jakartans alike, some asking for help and others complaining about their lives.

'€œThey all ask the governor for different things. Some are really heartfelt letters while some are just funny and ridiculous,'€ Maruhal said at City Hall.

Maruhal said he had once come across a letter from a woman complaining that her husband cheated on her. The woman, he said, wrote many pages and included graphic pictures as evidence along with excerpts from chats between her husband and his mistress.

'€œBut the governor replies to each and every letter to at least say he'€™s received the letter even if he can'€™t help,'€ he said.

Ahok said that each day he took the chance to read all the letters that came to his office. '€œI want to help as much as I can for the people who deserve to be helped,'€ Ahok said.

He said most of the letters he received were nonsense, some asking for help on issues that were not under his control as governor. Some, Ahok said, also had outrageous requests.

'€œThat'€™s why I have to read each letter that comes in. If I read one that sounds genuine, I will try to help. But first I will send a team to the sender'€™s address to make sure they'€™re telling the truth. For example, one mother asked for money so she could pay tuition fees for her son whose high school diploma was withheld by the school pending payment. So, I sent my team to the address before sending the money,'€ he said.

Ahok uses a large chunk of his operational funds as governor to assist residents. He puts financial reports about his funds on his website, ahok.org. Last year, he received Rp 17 billion (US$1.3 million) in operational funds and used about Rp 5.4 billion for charity, such as scholarships, paying people'€™s medical bills, paying for people'€™s houses to be renovated and helping to buy a bicycle for a Mr. Romlan, who wanted to cycle around the world. Mr. Romlan got Rp 2 million last year.

Ahok used the rest for staff operational funds, security guards and other expenses, and he returned Rp 4.8 billion to the state coffer.

Under Ahok, and previously also under former Jakarta governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, City Hall has a friendly image. Without making appointments, residents just arrive and wait until Ahok'€™s staff tell them he is available.

Sausan Salim, a 59-year-old resident from South Jakarta, waited patiently at City Hall on Monday.

'€œI came here last Friday but I could not meet with Ahok as he was busy,'€ she said, adding that his assistant had asked her to return on Monday.

Sausan, who had been waiting for six hours, said she wanted to meet with Ahok personally to ask for an opportunity to rent an apartment.