Jakarta. The Indonesian government offers opportunities for athletes who won medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to become civil servants.

The offer is meant as appreciation to those athletes who also will receive billions of rupiah in bonuses from the government and private institutions, a minister said on Monday.

“In appreciation to Olympic medalists and their coaches, the government can make special arrangements for them to become civil servants. In my opinion, we need to do this to inspire and motivate the younger generation to make the country proud through sports,” Administrative Reforms Minister Tjahjo Kumolo told reporters in Jakarta.

The practice was introduced three years ago, when medalists in Rio 2016 were awarded with opportunities to work in regional government offices, he said.

Tjahjo added Olympic medalists must take mandatory entry tests conducted by the State Administrative Agency, or BKN, if they are interested in the offer.

In the Tokyo games, Indonesia grabbed a gold medal, a silver medal and three bronze medals from badminton and weightlifting.

The government has not announced the sum of bonuses for Olympic medalists. 

Five years ago, Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir got Rp 5 billion ($348,000) each after winning gold in badminton mixed doubles in Rio. The government also awarded Rp 2 billion in cash to a silver medalist and Rp 1 billion to a bronze medalist. 

Indonesia won another badminton gold medal in Tokyo, this time by Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu in women’s doubles.

Lifter Eko Yuli Irawan won a silver, while three bronze medals were grabbed by Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (badminton), Erwin Abdullah (weightlifting) and Windy Cantika Aisah (weightlifting).

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali said last week the government was still calculating the sum of prizes for the medalists, citing budget cuts due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A number of companies have announced bonuses for Indonesian Olympic medalists. Grab Indonesia, for example, said it will award Greysia and Apriyani Rp 500 million each.