Mentality of House members<\/p>\n
From Pikiran Rakyat<\/p>\n
I was saddened upon reading a Dec. 4 article by Mr. Atang
\nRuswita in Pikiran Rakyat regarding a proposal that the Wisma
\nRandang should be set up as a place where members of the House of
\nRepresentatives and ministry officials engaged in legislative
\ndiscussions could spend the night.<\/p>\n
This reminds me of a statement made by Cak Nun or Emha Ainun
\nNadjib in a certain tabloid: \"The tradition of house members
\nreceiving money, rings, access to companies and anything else
\nunder the guise of various names is none other than the result of
\na 'poverty syndrome'. The most extreme manifestations of this
\n'poverty syndrome' are not found in the lives of millions of poor
\npeople but mainly in those of wealthy and powerful people.\"<\/p>\n
Isn't discussing a bill or performing other relevant tasks
\nindeed the job of House members? As public representatives, House
\nmembers must carry out their obligations, right?<\/p>\n
Aside from their obligations, House members also enjoy certain
\nrights and various facilities, don't they? And, isn't the time
\nallocated for the discussion of a particular bill planned out
\nahead of time?<\/p>\n
House members earn a salary and are given other funds to carry
\nout tasks, which include drawing up bills. So, if House members
\nreceive other forms of payment for doing what is in fact their
\njob, this is obviously corruption.<\/p>\n
The use of funds from Jamsostek, the state-owned social
\nsecurity company, to facilitate House members' discussion of a
\nbill is not simply a matter of making their deliberation more
\npeaceful and comfortable.<\/p>\n
Many Indonesians have been infected by viruses more lethal
\nthan AIDS: bribery, collusion and corruption. High-ranking
\ngovernment officers and power holders in our country have
\ncontracted a disease which seems incurable: the 'poverty
\nsyndrome'. Cak Nun describes this as a mentality in which a
\nperson feels he or she never has enough of something.<\/p>\n
Pak Atang, a former House member, perhaps knows how the Rp 3.1
\nbillion -- or Rp 7.1 billion as rumored -- in Jamsostek funds
\nallocated for the discussion of the manpower bill were used in
\ncovering accommodation, and food and drink expenses for House
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
It is ironic that House members were able to enjoy the funds
\ncollected from the wages of workers even though these same
\nmembers have never contributed to the Jamsostek fund. This
\nastounding amount of money has in fact been used to \"beat\"
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
As a political layman, I can only come to the conclusion that
\nthis case of the \"utilization\" of Jamsostek funds seems to
\nconfirm a long-harbored suspicion that bribery and grease money
\nis common for the people's representatives. It is indeed
\nsaddening that people contract such a chronic syndrome.<\/p>\n
SONY MUCHTAR<\/p>\n
Bandung, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mentality-of-house-members-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }