Public Servants

Nov 2nd, 2006, in News, by

A large percentage of public servants in Indonesia are on the slow witted side, say psychologists.

Psychological testing of 1920 public servants (PNS) in the East Java capital of Surabaya found that 43% were “slow learners”, or stupid. Those tested were at the IV, III and II tiers of rank in the public service, mainly sub-departmental heads and district secretaries. A slim majority of civil servants were of average intelligence, while, as deputy mayor of Surabaya, Arif Afandi, bemoaned:

The number of those who are very clever is small.

Arif went on to say that the less than impressive rates of sharp thinking among state officials was a worrying matter and led to poor standards of work. tempo

Meanwhile, while public servants may not be the brightest people in the land, they may be getting better at turning up for work as expected. The minister of religion, M. Maftuh Basyuni, proudly announced on the 1st that the absentee rate among his staff was at all time low of 4.4% on the first day back from the Lebaran holiday. He had previously been pessimistic about his workers’ devotion to duty, post festivities:

I thought only 80% would turn up for work.

Happily he was way off, with a 95.6% rate of bums on seats in the busy halls of the Department of Religion. dtk


8 Comments on “Public Servants”

  1. Andrew says:

    No offense, but that’s one of the reasons they decided to work as public servants; i.e. because they can’t possibly compete in private companies.

  2. Oigal says:

    This is a surprise?? Public servants the world over are, in the main, the “also rans” of this world. Indonesia had just turned into an art form due to not even a sembalance of accountability to the public

  3. Orang kampung says:

    At least the new generations will replace them soon! I hope so! Concerning issues, but to be quite honest, this how world is run for many years! Those realist run the world… they are not particularly bright, for the sake of power they do everything!

  4. Masindi says:

    being public servant is an entrepreneurial business by itself.

  5. gagahput3ra says:

    Haha, it’s not a surprise, really, even without a research, all the people in Indonesia can say that all public servants in Indonesia are “REALLY” stupid. Why the government choose them? Because when public servants in Indonesia are smart, they stole better than the stupid ones.

  6. Achmad Sudarsono says:

    Dear All,

    If anything, it’s Oigal who’s an also ran. He also ran to the toilet to throw up after getting drunk at Blok M, also ran away from his wife after she found out about all that lap danc es he got there, and also ran out of original things to say a long, long time ago. Friends, have pity, though: it’s hard to write with a hangover these days. Before you get nasty with replies, Mr. Oigal, please remember to avoid gratuitous personal comments, ok ?

    Achmad

  7. O. Bule says:

    No surprise, they are in the U.S.A. as well. In fact, they are in every nation that I have ever visited.

    O. Bule

  8. Andrew says:

    Indeed, in every country, although the level of sophistication (and the shamelessness, if there is such a word) differs.

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