West Jakarta Mayor Anas Effendi now holds the incredible, potentially unassailable record of sleeping in front of four Jakarta governors.
The latest dozing off incident was captured by Kompas reporter Jessi Carina on Tuesday during a Quran recital at a government event in Kalideres, West Jakarta. Sitting next to Anas while he continuously struggled and failed to keep his eyes open was Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.
Anies didn’t seem to notice his subordinate’s escape to dreamland (the governor was looking at his phone throughout much of the video), but the public clearly did.
When asked about the incident, however, Anas denied he fell asleep (we’re surprised he didn’t use the “I shut my eyes to deeply focus on the Quran recital” excuse).
“I wasn’t sleeping; sleeping is for on the bed. I was on a chair, slightly tilting my head down, that’s understandable,” Anas told reporters yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
However Anas did admit that he might have been tired because of the time and energy he dedicates to his job.
“I work until night time. At night I still monitor Kota Tua (Old Town) among other things, attending events here and there,” he said.
Vice Governor Sandiaga Uno also came to Anas’ defense.
“Our mayor in West Jakarta, poor guy, he must be exhausted. He works 24 hours (a day), he must be tired,” Sandiaga said.
Incredibly, Anas has been caught sleeping (or at least shutting his eyes) in front of three previous Jakarta governors. In March 2013, he fell asleep during a plenary meeting headed by then-Governor Joko Widodo discussing the city budget. In another budget meeting two years later under former Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Widodo, Anas was again observed with his head down and eyes closed. Then, in June, he also had his head down and eyes shut while former Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat gave a speech.
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