{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1478067,
        "msgid": "vacations-a-moral-tale-1447893297",
        "date": "2004-01-09 00:00:00",
        "title": "Vacations: A moral tale",
        "author": null,
        "source": "JP",
        "tags": null,
        "topic": null,
        "summary": "Vacations: A moral tale To an untutored vacationer on leave from an industrialized country such as Europe, Japan or America who passes through Jakarta during Ramadhan, the mass exodus from the capital, which he witnesses through TV or other media, does not raise his curiosity too much. That is, until he is informed by a friend that the festive week, including Lebaran proper, is really an extraordinary holiday, a kind of collective paid leave, government approved.",
        "content": "<p>Vacations: A moral tale<\/p>\n<p>To an untutored vacationer on leave from an industrialized<br>\ncountry such as Europe, Japan or America who passes through<br>\nJakarta during Ramadhan, the mass exodus from the capital, which<br>\nhe witnesses through TV or other media, does not raise his<br>\ncuriosity too much. That is, until he is informed by a friend<br>\nthat the festive week, including Lebaran proper, is really an<br>\nextraordinary holiday, a kind of collective paid leave,<br>\ngovernment approved.<\/p>\n<p>\"You mean, this comes on top of the usual, once-a-year<br>\nholidays?\"<\/p>\n<p>\"Yes it does; Lebaran proper lasts only two days.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"So, what about Christmas and New Year?\" he asks.<\/p>\n<p>\"Well, officially it's not sanctioned, but absenteeism between<br>\nboth holidays is also common.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"And this phenomenon has happened for the past two to three<br>\ndecades, especially now that more people can afford a car to make<br>\nthe arduous journey to the countryside? That's terrific! Surely,<br>\nIndonesians must have been exceptionally productive to earn this<br>\nkind of vacation!\" he exclaims.<\/p>\n<p>\"Not exactly; the country received billions of dollars of<br>\ndevelopment aid over the same period.\"<\/p>\n<p>Now his curiosity turns to incredulity. He muses on how work<br>\ndiscipline back home forces him to work those strenuous, 8-hour<br>\ndays, five days a week for 11 months of the year and that this<br>\none-month vacation does not actually compensate for the year-<br>\nlong, strength-sapping work at his office.<\/p>\n<p>All of it was intended to increase his country's economic<br>\ngrowth and competitiveness, so he was told.<\/p>\n<p>Observing many undernourished children in the villages he<br>\npasses on his trip to Yogjakarta, he asks how an obviously poor<br>\ncountry can afford such luxuries without going bankrupt.<\/p>\n<p>\"But this is really a rich country, overflowing with minerals<br>\nand other natural resources,\" his partner explains, \"only, most<br>\nof the generated wealth has somehow or other evaporated, leaving<br>\na small portion only for the welfare of these poor villages we've<br>\njust passed. The villagers can, luckily, survive on a diet that<br>\nwill not, however, create strong people. And, of course, there's<br>\nthat cartel of donor countries, without whose aid the poor<br>\nvillagers would become more destitute. Really, those cartel<br>\ngovernments are wonderful philanthropists!\"<\/p>\n<p>D. RATULANGI<br>\nBandung<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/vacations-a-moral-tale-1447893297",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}