'Holiday changes encourage laziness'

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The holiday shift introduced by the government in order to allow people to enjoy longer weekends is a bad precedent for the country's education, as it will discourage the cultivation of a hard-working culture, observers say.

Rosihan Anwar of the Indonesian Historian Society said the holiday shift policy was proof of the government's lack of vision in how to encourage people to work hard in an effort to emerge from the long-standing crisis.

Rosihan, who is also a senior journalist, further said that the policy reflected the absence of leadership in the government, as it had bowed to the wishes of people for practical reasons.

"The government should guide the people, instead of fulfilling certain people's demands," Rosihan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

A joint decree signed by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husein Al Munawar and Minister of Manpower and Transmigration last year recommended mass leave during the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays and the shifting of certain holidays to other dates to allow for extended weekends.

State Minister of Administrative Reform Feisal Tamin issued a decree on Tuesday to complement the joint ministerial decree, which stipulated the moving of holidays which fell in the middle of the week to either Monday or Friday.

The government argued that the long weekend would help the tourist industry to recover after the Bali bombings last October, and that it would improve efficiency among private and government employees.

Employees have tended to skip the work days falling between two holidays.

Another cultural observer, Mudji Sutrisno of the Driyarkara School of Philosophy, said the government's arguments were unacceptable.

"The real problem is that civil servants are not used to strict discipline. This is what the government has to address, instead of putting aside the problem," Mudji told the Post.

Mudji said the holiday shift was a one-dimensional policy based only on economic pragmatism, particularly in promoting tourism, without considering other aspects like education and religious values.

He said the holiday shift would adversely affect education, particularly in regards school children, as "it suggests children to ignore the value of a religious holiday".

He criticized the government for turning a deaf ear to aspirations of religious leaders and educators, who had complained about the difficulties they faced in explaining the policy to their congregations and students alike.

"I am concerned about the government's top-down policy, which is based only on pragmatism. Therefore, I urge the government to call off the policy next year or, if it is to be maintained, the government must consult religious leaders," he added.

Criticism has also come from religious leaders, who said religious holidays could not be shifted to other days as the celebrations were related to dogmas and doctrines specific to respective religions.