In two days, we will be celebrating Idul Fitri after fasting throughout the holy month of Ramadhan. It’s a time to rejoice!

But did you know that a group of people is celebrating two weeks before, and two weeks after Idul Fitri? Who are they, and why are they doing this?

The group comprises more than 4.5 million civil servants, around 675,000 personnel of the Indonesian Military (TNI), 430,000 members of the National Police, government officials (including the President and Vice President), 692 members of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), 560 members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and 132 members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), as well as ministers and ministerial officials, governors, mayors, regents and their deputies.

They’re rejoicing because starting this year, under the recently issued Government Regulations No. 18 and No. 19, they will be getting the Tunjangan Hari Raya (THR) holiday bonus in June along with a 13th month salary in July. Wow!

Actually, civil servants have been receiving THR since 2016, but for the first time, retired state employees, TNI personnel, police officers, government officials, as well as veterans, widows of veterans and orphaned children of TNI and National Police personnel are also to receive this holiday bonus.

On May 23, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo tweeted, “I hope the provision of the THR and the 13th month salary will be useful for their welfare, especially in welcoming Idul Fitri.”

You mean, on top of their corruption? In 2017, a Transparency International Indonesia (TII) survey found that the House was considered the nation’s most corrupt institution, surpassing the police that usually tops the list.

The police came second in last year’s survey, along with the government bureaucracy, the DPD and the tax office.

I don’t have a problem with pensioners, veterans, widows and orphans getting the holiday bonuses — they deserve it. But do the President and Vice President really need THR and a 13th month salary? The joys of being President! It’s not as bad as Trump saying he would pardon himself, but it comes close.

I’m not usually resentful, but I have to confess, this time I am; and with good reason. It’s not totally personal, even though as a freelancer, however much I bust my gut in dedicating myself to my craft, my profession, my calling as a writer, I will never receive a holiday bonus. The price of idealism. Hah!

Although I don’t receive THR, I still have to give it: for the neighborhood security guards, the postman, the newspaper guy,
the street sweepers, etc. For them, I give with pleasure — they deserve it.

But for members of the House and others who are already overpaid, it’s like the government is thumbing its nose at the majority of people who suffer from rising prices approaching Idul Fitri every year.

In 2009, I wrote a column about lawmakers that received Rp 90-100 million (the exchange rate then was Rp 8,000 to the US dollar), and pocketed “an endless stream of benefits, including housing, transport, wife, kids, medical, rice, car credit assistance, electricity, communications, secretarial and administrative allowance, as well as financial incentives for attending meetings”.

If you want to know their current state of abundance and excess, you can look it up on gajimu.com .

The amount of money allocated for these holiday bonuses is a whopping 69 percent more than last year. In real terms, it amounts to Rp 35.76 trillion (US$2.5 billion), taken from the state budget (APBN) and the regional development budget (APBD).

House deputy speaker Fadli Zon criticized the policy as a populist gesture in the political year leading up to the presidential election in 2019. Fadli and I don’t usually see eye to eye, but this time, I agree with him.

So do Bhima Yudhistira, a researcher at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, and Yenny Sutjipto, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency.

They are not surprised by the move, but they do say it was unplanned and are concerned that it would eat into development funds. Yenny said, “They [the government] probably think it’s not that much, but in three to five years it will impact the state budget and ultimately could contribute to people suffering.”

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said the provision of these bonuses would increase the purchasing power of middle-class households. Bhima’s response, “If all this money was immediately spent by the 4.5 million PNS, consumption in the second quarter would increase by 5.2 percent, but the reality is not that simple.”

The government’s PNS budget continues to rise each year: Rp 276 trillion in 2015, Rp 299 trillion in 2016, Rp 348 trillion in 2017 and Rp 369 trillion in 2018. Does this increase contribute to anything positive for the nation?

It’s widely known that being a PNS is a coveted job: it’s stable and, of course, there’s the pension. But if it’s not cost-effective, then obviously reduction is an absolute necessity.

This doesn’t mean laying off currently serving PNS, but reducing the number of new recruits. In fact, at one point the government announced a moratorium because it felt that having too many civil servants used up too great a proportion of the state budget. It increased from 20.14 percent in 2014, to 24 percent in 2015, to 31.3 percent in 2016.

In some areas, the PNS budget reached 80 percent of the regional development budget. Whoa! Is there anything left for infrastructure development?

Jokowi’s holiday bonus move clearly contradicts his call for minimizing government spending. In fact, the government has targeted a reduction in the number of civil servants from 4.5 to 3.5 million in 2019. Does the President even know this??

The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicator Report measures government effectiveness using six criteria: Voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption. In 2015, Indonesia scored -0.22 (down from -0.20 in 2010), way below Singapore (2.3), Malaysia (1), Thailand (0.36) and Vietnam (0.08). Enough said.

Apart from contradicting his own policies, what about the spirit of Idul Fitri itself? Didn’t we just spend an entire month trying to curb our emotions and base desires (including greed!), and then suddenly this massive holiday bonus is provided to increase
consumption?

Another obligation during Idul Fitri is to give alms to the poor, not to yourself!! Or have we forgotten?

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri. Begging forgiveness of all my wrongdoings — and yours!
___________________________

The writer is the author of Julia’s Jihad.

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