Indonesian ministers got a chilly reception on Monday when they showed up for work in casual wear after a presidential decree to turn down the cooling — only to find the order had been ignored.
Eschewing their usual business suits and ties, Vice-President Yusuf Kalla and 16 ministers showed up at the finance ministry in batik and casual shirts or that outcast from decades ago, the safari suit.
They were anticipating a much hotter working environment after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered new energy-saving measures nationwide in the face of record high oil prices and fuel shortages.
Detikom online news service reported that ministry staffers had ignored the decree, and that the air-conditioning was turned on full and the ministers’ meeting room was nice and chilly.
Western-style business suits have been the norm at the presidential palace since the height of the oil boom in the 1980s, and were popularised by former dictator Suharto. — AFP