There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in

Renew British Passport in Indonesia? Arggggggg!!!!!!!

You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.

>Thomas Sowell (American Writer and Economist, b.1930)

Few people have anything good to say about Indonesian bureaucracy.

There is no tradition of public service and the general view is that the civil servants in Indonesia are there simply to line their own pockets rather than – God forbid – actually provide any services to the public.

This paragraph, from the
Living in Indonesia website, pretty much sums it up:

To request a service from a government employee is to beg a boon, and is expected to be accompanied by a discreet gift; an envelope of cash is standard. Failure to offer one is normally perceived as a personal insult and seen as highly disrespectful...it will almost certainly see your request sent to the bottom of the pile or lost altogether.

But is Indonesian bureaucracy really that bad?

Well, perhaps not.

I say this because in my case I’ve just come back from my hols and realized that my British passport needs to be renewed pretty soon.

So I go online to download the application form, but then to my complete amazement I read this:
Passports services for British nationals in South East Asian countries are issued at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong. This is part of a global initiative to rationalise passport services and reduce administration costs while ensuring that the quality of service remains high.
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, you read it right.
If you are a Brit living in any South East Asian country you now have to apply to Hong Kong to get a new passport!

Under the new centralized system you should expect to wait FOUR WEEKS to get your new passport, so I fail to understand how the new service “ensures a high quality of service.

Pity the unfortunate bugger who loses his passport in Bali on holiday - he's gonna be in for a hell of a time.

Besides the long waiting time, the new system is also a lot more complicated logistically of course as the paperwork has to be sent by courier to Hong Kong and payment needs to be made by either credit card or International Banker’s Draft if you apply directly yourself (*). What a pain in the arse.

And the cost?
A cool £154.50 for a 48 page passport plus HK$185 in courier fees!

Wow!

And what do I read in Kompas today?

Well, that the Indonesians have made big efforts to improve their passport service too:
just Rp270,000 for a passport (US$30!!!) and ready in just FOUR DAYS.

Now that’s what I call service.

And no, if you live in Manado you don’t have to apply for your passport in Jakarta either!

(*) after speaking to the friendly lady at the British Consulate in Jakarta it seems they will help send your application to Hong Kong for you and also accept the payment in rupiah. Very helpful, if like me, you don’t have a credit card.

Update (26 July 2010): Getting into the British Consulate is about as easy as getting into Fort Knox. There are four security checks – two done by the building management and two conducted by the Consulate itself. At the Consulate security check, the security guard asks me if I have anything in my pockets, and upon seeing me take out a potential weapon of mass destruction (a bunch of keys), asks me to put them on the desk and put my hands up, before frisking me.

Once you actually get inside the Consulate, you find yourself in a tiny waiting room with BBC World being shown on the TV and a picture of “Her Majesty” on the wall. Notices reassure you that the British Consulate provides its services in a “courteous” manner but also warn that anyone who shouts or screams will be ejected. It’s all so very civilized. Wonderful. I also notice that there’s even a collection box by the counter for “destitute Brits” back in Old Blighty. Charity starts at home, eh?

The lady behind the counter is Indonesian and wearing a hijab. She is polite and efficient but rather “distant” and only offers the slightest of wry smiles when I say that the British passport must be made of gold leaf as it’s costing me a cool Rp2.7 million for a 48 pager. Anyway I pay the money, exchange the usual British pleasantries, and am on my way...

Comments

  1. Wow that is worse than I thought. I had mine renewed in December at the consulate and it took 10 days and it was a painless service. The cost was higher but I expected that.
    I actually enjoyed going to collect it as the office where I got if from reminded me of a little post office in a backstreet somewhere in England. It was either the picture of the queen on the wall or the little old lady that served me that did it.
    I hope you get it sorted soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks Luke. I'm not sure what the point of the new system is. Imagine how difficult it will be for tourists coming here and losing/ having their passports stolen.

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  3. My problem is how to pay for a new passport. All ready to send the paperwork to Hong Kong, but I cannot get a bankers draft because the payee - the consulate-general does not give bank account details on the Internet. Just the name of the recipient. The banks in Indonesia want an account number. How the hell do I transfer the money?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anon - no need to transfer any money. Go directly to the British Consulate in Jakarta. Take your old passport, some passport sized photos for your new passport, and a heap of rupiah cash. Your new passport will be processed in Hong Kong and sent to the British Consulate in Jakarta. You should be able to pick it up within a couple of weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just to let folks know that the British consulate in Bali no longer accepts cash payments for passports. You must use credit card of banker's draft.

    ReplyDelete

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