N

ot an athlete herself, Sri Hartati nevertheless has high hopes of taking part in the 2018 Asian Games, as the event next year will rely on thousands of volunteers.

“I have not taken any voluntary work before, so I really want to sign up for it,” Sri said. “I want to get some working experience and extend my network.”

Living in Yogyakarta, the 25-year-old fresh graduate is willing to be assigned to any of the Asian Games venues — be it in Jakarta, Palembang of South Sumatra or one of the cities in West Java, even if it is unlikely that accommodation will be provided.

“I am certain there will be voluntary costs. However, if there are no accommodation facilities, I still have no problem with it. I am willing to pay for my own stay,” she added.

Sri has signed up for the voluntary work online, as according to information she had received, the recruitment began on Sept. 1.

“When I opened the website, it only required me to provide an email address and that is it. So, I am actually confused whether it has begun or not,” she said.

The Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) recently called on Indonesians to join the 18th quadrennial sporting event as volunteers.

However, contrary to the information Sri received, the recruitment will open only on Sep. 18 on the INASGOC website at volunteer.asiangames2018.id.

“The recruitment was initially meant to open on Sept. 1, but as our technological infrastructure was not ready in time, we decided to postpone it until Sept. 18,” said Rani Hakim, the coordinator of INASGOC’s Human Resource and Volunteer Department.

INASGOC, she explained, needed 15,000 volunteers for two separate events, the pre-event and the main event.

The pre-event, a trial for the Asian Games venues and scoring system, will likely be held in the period of January to March next year, while the Asian Games proper will take place from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.

“The pre-event needs 2,000 volunteers, and we will allocate the other 13,000 to the main event,” she said, adding that volunteers were not expected to work for both events.

The voluntary work is also open to foreigners, given that there will be some non-English speaking athletes from the 45 participating countries.

As stated on its website, INASGOC will open four voluntary assignments, namely protocol assistant, NOC (National Olympic Committee) assistant, liaison officer and workforce.

The first two positions required a minimum diploma degree. Meanwhile, high school graduates could join the other positions, she explained.

The committees, however, expected volunteers applying as protocol assistant, NOC assistant or liaison officer to be fluent in another language, aside from English and Indonesian.

“We expect them to be able to speak particularly Arabic, French, Mandarin or Japanese,” she explained.

Foreigners are welcome to apply, she said. However, they must obtain staying or working permits in Indonesia by the time they apply.

“We expect them to hold the permit, so that we will not have difficulty in dealing with the issue,” she added.

INASGOC will conduct the entire recruitment process, including the document screening, psychological test and interview, online.

The test included a group discussion session, she explained.

“The screening is tight, so that we can hire volunteers aware of SARA [ethnic, religious, racial and social] issues and sportsmanship values,” she said. “This is important, as we do not want this big event to be infiltrated by people with bad intentions.”

Once announced to have passed the process, the aspiring volunteers will be given training on communication skills and Olympic values as well as information about local tourism.

Aside from the training, the volunteers would also get allowances for transportation and refreshment.

“We do not provide any accommodation if the volunteers live far from the venues. However, we provide them with an easily sufficient allowance,” Rani said.

She added that the volunteers would also obtain certificates and uniforms that were “properly designed and would make them proud.”