There was an air of apprehension, anger and jealousy when artists gathered at the Jakarta Art Council last Friday. It was no ordinary pre-performance press conference.
Poet and essayist Goenawan Mohamad was there, so were the council's chairman Marco Kusumawijaya, Jakarta Art Institute rector and choreographer Sardono W. Kusumo, author Ayu Utami, Teater Koma founder Ratna R. Riantiarno, Kelola Foundation director Amna Kusumo and other artists committed to preserving and developing the so-called pure, non-commercial arts.
Philanthropy and law experts were also there on behalf of the artists, who feel tragically unattended by the government.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post, Kompas and Tempo, they ranted about the income tax bill, which they claimed to be evidently overlooking the importance of arts.
The tax bill provides tax exemption only for non-profit organizations in the fields of education and research and developments, and tax deduction for philanthropic donors in the fields of education, social infrastructures and, this is what hurts them most, sport.
"If you ask us if we are jealous, yes we are. I am not saying that art is better than sport, but if sport gains that kind of support, then we also deserve the same attention," Ratna said.
The artists argued that art is valuable and contributes to society, socially as well as economically, at least in the long run.
The government, they said, should be able to distinguish between the creative industry and pure arts, including traditional arts, which are now mostly forgotten and prone to cultural theft by foreign countries.
The exclusion of art from the tax incentive policies, they further argued, is not only lamentable but also detrimental to national development.
"Therefore, we call on the legislators and the government to incorporate art in the bill as an effort to develop art and culture through tax incentives," Marco said.
The artists sent letters to the House of Representative's finance commission and the finance minister asking for a special meeting on the matter. The effort, however, was virtually useless.
"The chance is nil," Drajat Wibowo, a member of the special committee charged with finalizing the bill told the Post.
"We finalized the draft bill at the last meeting and will immediately pass it into law in the next plenary session. There is no way we can make another change."
The legislators will resume their working session on Aug. 19.
While the artists said they were never asked for their input during the deliberation process, or worse had their aspirations somehow ignored by the lawmakers, Drajat questioned why the artists had only begun to voice their concerns now.
"We have already announced the amendment of the law many times and the deliberation process has been extensively covered by the mass media. Why didn't they talk about this earlier?" he said.
Ery Nugroho from the Center for Legal and Policy Studies (PSHK), in defense of the artists, said the lawmakers should have been more proactive in asking for input from the public, not the other way around.
"And I do not think it would be hard for them to spare one or two days to hold a meeting with the artists," he added.
Drajat, however, insisted that the door was closed to any changes to the bill, advising them to lobby the finance minister to get their demand incorporated in government regulations which detail the implementation of the law.
"They may still find a way at the level of government regulations. Art may be taken as part of education," he said.
The amendment of the taxation laws, with the aim of making them more taxpayer-friendly, is crucial to improve the country's business climate. The deliberation process -- especially during the amendment of the general taxation arrangements and procedures -- however, was slow due to conflicting interests of many parties.
Tax incentives for non-profit organizations and their donors are considered necessary based on the assumption that the state could not do everything for the public.
According to Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center (PIRAC), in many countries like the United States and Singapore, tax incentives are proven capable of increasing the number of non-profit organizations.
Hamid Abidin from PIRAC said that the value of philanthropic donations in Indonesia increased significantly in the past few years from Rp 65,000 (US$7.02) per person per year in 2000 to Rp 375,000 per person per year in 2007.
The Olympics provide a good momentum for sportsmen to prove that, for the sake of national pride, they deserve the public and government's support.
Nevertheless, Ratna argued that many artists had also gained international reputation and become a source of national pride. She then questioned why not artists get the same support?
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|