President SBY has started to make a reputation for himself as man who gets things done. He seems to be a hands-on guy and offered to talk to his citizens who are having trouble dealing with the daily bureaucracy here in Indonesia.
According to the Jakarta Post article the President offered to take calls on his cell phone as a show of commitment. A group of farmers and fishermen were told his cell phone was active 24 hours a day and he would be happy to listen to questions. Amazingly one guy did call about his grievance over wages and The President supposedly made a call for him.
Not wanting to be left out I fired off an sms only to get a message telling me that it was an invalid number. I am sure the poor guys phone never stopped ringing, but at least he tried.
Here in Indonesia it can be hard getting the government to fix things and even to give out information. Do not expect the immigration department ever to answer a call or inform people about rules changes. Usually the immigration consultants here in Bali get their information from the newspaper, after a rules change.
Good for President SBY though.
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{ 3 comments }
G’Day Nick,
What did you write in the sms mate?
I told him I live in Bali and am trying to promote the island’s tourist industry. I also said I support his efforts to end corruption.
the recent news told a story that there’s a problem with SBY cell phone because of 2000 messages received after the phone number anouncement. However, SBY would like to open 4 more numbers and he is still thinking any other alternatives of technology.
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