Jakarta – Sycophantic officials are getting on the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's nerves. Some of them, she complained yesterday, have developed a habit of asal ibu senang or "keeping Madam President happy".

In the past, there was the asal bapak senang or "keeping Mr President happy" habit, she observed. "Now there has emerged this asal ibu senang to annoy me," she said at the opening of a livestock and fishery forum on Bali island.

When Fisheries Minister Rochimin Dahuri reported that catches had risen from 3.6 million tonnes in 1998 to 4.5 million tonnes in 2001, the President elicited laughter from the audience when she quipped: "I wonder whether this is some kind of 'keep Madam President happy' report." Ms Megawati, quoted by the state Antara news agency, also urged some ministers to shed their arrogant attitude by joining her on her provincial tours.

The President, who marks a year in power next week, also took ordinary Indonesians to task for failing to exploit natural resources. "We have been lulled by the story of rich resources. However, when it comes to hard work, we hardly work," she remarked.

Earlier this year, she had delivered a stinging rebuke to the bureaucracy, describing her administration as a "trash can" and telling officials to go out and check reports instead of staying desk-bound.

"I have been leading a government which I think is like a trash can because bureaucrats only want to receive good news," she had said. She noted whenever she toured the country, the local government's protocol officials always made sure she visited places which were performing well.

"What is the point in my visiting these places if I hear only good news?" But Ms Megawati herself has also been at the receiving end of criticism herself, for not doing enough to curb corruption in the bureaucracy.