How to Get Aligned to a Much Better Post in a Reshuffle

Last week, SBY announced his new line-up for the Cabinet (just in time for the Playoffs, no?). Two familiar names recently under massive public criticism (and calls for resignation) persistently resurfaced in somewhat better positions, namely Hatta Rajasa of the travel disasters fame and Sofyan Djalil of the infamous Gates-gate (d’oh) and his planned NEWSdotCOM lawsuit. Surprised? Not if you’re an Indonesian. We’re very used to such twisted logic.

Mr. Rajasa was assigned to the post of State Secretary, most likely an executive decision that might be traced back to the high body count he amassed during his tenure as Minister of Transportation (especially in Q1 Y2007) which rivaled all three RoboCop movies and Braveheart combined. Just imagine the number of fatalities and bad luck he’d bring to the table which, statistically at least, should be enough to rinse the Indonesian government from its corrupt officials and start it anew with a squeaky clean slate. Yeah, right.

While Mr. Djalil was assigned to the post of State Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, probably as a result from the pact he previously made with the Devil himself during his stint as Information and Communication Minister (even though the mischievous plan was botched). State-Owned Enterprises and Windows Vista Enterprise? Hmm, the plot thickens. “If at first you don’t succeed,” well, we all know how it goes. Did Mr. Djalil really sell his soul? We still couldn’t believe that the Devil would’ve cut a bargain deal like this one, though.

Now you know how to move up the ranks quickly, if you’re an Indonesian bureaucrat. As long as you survived IPDN first.