Scholarship / The success of maintaining good relations - CHEVENING Essay [4]

Hi guys, this is my Networking skills essay for Chevening Scholarship. But if you have any comments and suggestions will be more than happy to accept it

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with the Chevening community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your networking skills, and outline how you hope to use these skills in the future. (minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

the success of maintaining good relations

As a State Auditor, networking skills is a must-have ability to have in order to perform the State's duties well. The fact that as a civil servant and a former lawyer's assistant, dealing with many people is a commonplace for me, therefore exploit the opportunity to the fullest so as to provide for myself and others. My experience working as a civil servant and a lawyer's assistant has taught me the importance of good communication, trust, adaptation and humility in the process of socializing well with others at any level. I hope it can take place and provide benefits to the chevening community as well as to the chevening institution itself.

In 2015, I was accepted as a State Auditor in Indonesian Financial and Development Supervisory Board (BPKP), an institution that has the task of supervising development and finance in Indonesia. A State Auditor is not only in charge of auditing the State's finances, but also conducting socialization, assistance, evaluation, Regulatory Review and so on which activities involve various groups such as Police, Prosecutors, Local Government, Ministries, legislatures and ordinary peoples. It is necessary to adapt in any meeting with such parties, for example in my case, in solving the corruption case with the police is different from doing similar activities with the prosecutor's office. It requires timeliness and speed in the execution of duties when coordinating with the Police to continue to be trusted by the institution, compared with the Persecutors which are more concerned with the accuracy in order to improve the quality of audit reports related to a corruption case. The success of maintaining good relations with both institutions not only gained tremendous appreciation from both institutions but also facilitated me in carrying out other assignments.

Other important networking skill that I apply in is staying humble to be able to socialize well. For example, the village fund program proclaimed by the Government of Indonesia from 2014 does not fully work well in the province of West Papua, Indonesia's poorest province. The main reason is that basically the village's equipment in the province has limited capability in preparing the Village Budget Plan and other documents as a condition for disbursing village funds, as well as being reluctant to deal with central government officials whom they value as having bureaucratic, consequently the absorption of village funds in this province is the worst. In view of the problem, I as an Auditor who often served in the Province tried different approaches, where I placed myself not as a respected government employee but as a close friend who wanted to help, communicate and coordinate with local wisdom and culture, as a result of adaptation, many of the village heads in the province of West Papua contacted me and the BPKP team to assist them in drafting the Village Fund Budget Plan for their village, starting from 2016, the absorption of village funds in the Province of West Papua gradually increased and indirectly increased community welfare in the area.

(495 words)

Scholarship / An effective leader or influencer - CHEVENING SCHOLARSHIP [3]

Hi guys, this is my LEADERSHIP essay for Chevening Scholarship. But if you have any comments and suggestions will be more than happy to accept it

Chevening is looking for individuals that will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer. (minimum word count: 50 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

my vision to move forward

An effective leader or influencer must be brave, visionary, and someone who works well in teams, inspires others and adapts to change. Working as a state auditor for almost 3 years on the Indonesian Financial and Development Supervisory Board (BPKP) made me realize that to make a positive change, it takes a leader who has those 5 characteristics. Living as a professional serving my country in a remote, conflict-ridden place like West Papua was not easy-it required drawing on those characteristics, as well as sacrifice, patience and hard work.

In fact, the state auditor profession is not an individual job; it takes the contribution of each team member to achieve good results. Often when leading a team in an assignment, I am confronted by unfavorable situations. For example, in 2016, the team and I were assigned to audit an alleged corruption case in a Regency Government in the province of West Papua. Due to it being a remote area un-supervised by law enforcement, the audit team and I often received death threats from strangers, both via short messages and physical intimidations on the spot. Obviously, some parties were not happy that we existed or pleased about our activities in West Papua. But I believed the task was important, so as the team leader, I tried to encourage and motivate team members to keep thinking positively regardless of the threats we received. As the situation became more unconducive, I initiated carrying out the audit process in different way: applying a familial approach to the examination subject in obtaining important information to support our report. I changed the audit concept from "examination" to "improvement and solution provision" without changing the initial purpose of the audit. As a result, the situation that had initially heated up became more relaxed. The subject of the examination better received the advice and solutions that we provided while still recognizing the facts related to the case so as to strengthen the quality of our audit reports.

A good leader is also adaptable to change. Working in different areas with high frequency makes me more adaptable to change, allowing me to adjust as needed in accordance with local wisdom and culture. This is proven by my ability to lead an audit team consisting of several people who have different characteristics. These changes have no impact on the quality of my teamwork; instead, they have a positive impact on the way others see me. The familial approach that I take in my assignments makes me more appreciated by my fellow workers, and on some occasions, there are even some workers who are inspired by it. I take pride in this because it is not easy to go from being a state auditor who is often feared initially to being recognized and appreciated as a pleasant figure because of my untraditional approach.

I believe that a future leader must also learn a lot regardless of any current advantages. Therefore, my desire to continue education through Chevening scholarships to the UK is a form of my vision to move forward so that I am able to contribute more, to both the general public and my country in particular, with the knowledge I will later gain.

Scholarship / 3 Choices of University Courses that Will Develop My Career. [3]

Hi guys, this is my "Chosen three university courses" essay for Chevening Scholarship. But if you have any comments and suggestions will be more than happy to accept it

Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, and explain how this relates to your previous academic or professional experience and your plans for the future.

Corruption, Procurement Law, Conflict and International Development courses

I currently work as a State Auditor in the Indonesian Financial and Development Supervisory Board (BPKP) and our institutional slogan states, "establish clean governance and clean government." is very noble and ideal for a nation that wants to move forward. Nonetheless, implementation of these ideals is easier said than done. The main factor that supports the achievement of these goals is the quality of human resources and knowledge ability itself. I'm realized that my first degree education - Bachelor's Degree in Law focusing State Financial Law and Civil Law- although relevant to the needs of the institution where I am presently employed, it is not sufficient to meet these goals. There are many important skills and knowledge I need to improve especially in the field of governance, state financial and development to overcome the problems I found in the assignment as state auditor such as strategic anti-corruption approaches, strategic development,international standards of governance and many more. Above all, that is the reason I am applying for these three course from three institutions that are proven to be high quality.

My First choice is Corruption and Governance (MA) in University of Sussex. Based on my research on the internet, this course remains the only full-time MA analyzing issues of corruption, anti-corruption and governance in the world. Most of the courses provided are closely related to my education namely the law with the focus of state finance law. In addition, the courses are also important for a State auditor to develop an understanding of corruption and what can be done to counteract it. Furthermore, they also provide internships for three months in various institutions in the UK, making it very effective in applying the knowledge and skills in when I come back later to Indonesia.

My second choice is Public Procurement Law and Strategy (LLM) in Bangor University. Public procurement is the largest sector of corruption in Indonesia, nearly 80 percent of cases handled by my institution come from this sector. By studying this course, I hope its help me to understand the complex issues organizations involved in public sector tendering face, and to develop more creative legally compliant public procurement solutions so that I can contribute more in relation to the prevention of corruption on public procurement in my country. In particular, the fact that this course is an LLM which is in line with my previous education, gives me an easier picture of the courses provided.

My third choice is Conflict, Governance and International Development (MA) In University of East Anglia. This course focuses on the political development goals of sustainable peace, good governance and stable democracy. I am currently assigned in West Papua Province - a complex area, where ongoing conflict and self-segregation has impeded regional development and national integration. The situation has required a deep understanding of how to enforce and preserve a number of aspects, including legislative reform on economic and social issues, protection of human rights, and sustainable development. Therefore, enrolling this course will surely improve my knowledge base regarding these issues, and thus make it easier to do my duties as a government auditor.

Ultimately, the chance to study in one of those university courses not only enable me to carry out my duties as a public servant even more effectively but also would help me ensure the future development of my country, thus indirectly have a good impact on the relationship of cooperation between Indonesia and other countries such as the UK.