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Why is Indonesia prone to charity-funds embezzlement?
We tend to believe that the people or the organizations whom we trust with our money are trustworthy.
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Under investigation: Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) philanthropy-organization employees work at their office in Menara, 165 Tower, South Jakarta, on July 6. The Social Ministry has suspended ACT’s operating license pending an investigation into alleged misappropriation of public funds the group had raised. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
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ndonesia can take pride in the fact that it is considered the world’s most-generous country. The World Giving Index in 2021 confirmed the country as the world’s most-generous country with a score of 69 percent or up from 59 percent in the last annual index published in 2018, when the country was also ranked first in the WGI.
The Southeast Asian nation is also one of the most religious nations in the world, arguably contributing to the fact that many Indonesians are charitable, generous people. The act of giving or helping others is indeed an integral part of many religious teachings.
In Islam, for example, a religion embraced by around 86.7 percent of Indonesia’s population, there are several types of charities such as zakat and infaq (voluntary charity to a group of people), to name but a few. As for zakat, it is considered a religious obligation in Islam and is one of its five pillars.
It is also a religious duty for Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth to help the needy. Indonesia’s National Zakat Agency (BAZNAS) in 2022 sets the target of distributing zakat, infaq and sadaqah (ZIS) and other “social-religious funds” amounting to Rp 26 trillion (US$1.75 billion). If the target can be achieved, around 56 million people can receive the funds.
In Christianity, there is a tithe or a one-tenth part of something paid as a contribution to a religious organization or a compulsory tax to the government. Tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques.
In Hinduism, giving or making a donation to others is called dana punia, which consists of the words dana (gift, donation) and punia (holy, kind). So, dana punia means a gift or a donation “based on a holy heart or giving something without expecting anything in return”.
Similarly, Buddhism promotes economic wellbeing in society by its stress on the virtue of generosity and teaches its disciples, both monks and laymen, to practice giving, to be generous and to be bountiful.
