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Ministers bring interministerial discussions to WhatsApp
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A user opens WhatsApp on a smartphone with one hand while typing on a keyboard with the other. (Shutterstock.com/Denys Prykhodov)
WhatsApp is used not only by people to have personal chats but also by policymakers to discuss inter-ministerial matters.
Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Thomas Lembong, for example, has a WhatsApp group with Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri and Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly along with their respective deputies.
The officials in the group handle issues pertaining to foreign workers.
"We also invited our deputies to the WhatsApp group so that we can handle problems quicker," he said during a Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)-Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) seminar in Jakarta on Wednesday.
(Read also: Too many social media platforms may lead to depression, anxiety: Study)
Lembong added that this kind of inter-institution communication had never happened before the second Cabinet reshuffle in June last year. Even 18 months ago the ministries’ deputies did not communicate in regards to their jobs.
"After the second reshuffle, the Cabinet is calmer and there is no friction between ministers," he said. (bbn)
