Disguised beggar

Disguised beggar

From Media Indonesia

Referring to an article in Gatra No. 17 in the Astaloka column, titled "A village of beggars", I would like to give the following comments.

The village mentioned has been typically known as a village of beggars. They collect alms and charity under the pretext that the funds will be submitted to a foundation which has a project to be completed.

The foundation sends its people to big cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, etc. In reality, however, this practice is fraud, because the money only benefits certain individuals.

I know how the system works through personal experience. A beggar who had come from faraway and was armed with his foundation's letter of sponsorship visited me. He showed me a list of donors with the amount of money contributed. I believed it was nothing but a false document.

The best thing to do is to refuse to contribute to such uninvited guests who come from towns distant from yours. I hope the deviant fund-raiser will be inspired by honest ideas in order to make an honest living.

SLAMET SURABAN

Tasikmalaya, West Java