'Holiday changes encourage laziness'
'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.