How rich is Teten Masduki?

JAKARTA (JP): Teten Masduki, the well-known government critic from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), set an example of accountability on Thursday by declaring his wealth in public.

"My assets include a cupboard, a stove, a refrigerator and three chickens in a cage," said Teten Masduki before participants at a seminar discussing the auditing of public servants' wealth.

He made the revelation on the request of his fellow activist Farid R. Faqih from Government Watch (Gowa), who insisted that as an anti-corruption activist Teten should also disclose his wealth to the public.

Teten said it would take him less than 5 minutes to identify all his assets, the biggest of which he said was his wife's monthly salary of Rp 10 million.

"Mine is Rp 4 million with additional income from seminars," he said to the laughter of the audience.

He said his assets also include a Kijang van and Rp 50 million in a bank account, which he will use to build a house.

Transparent information concerning the wealth of public servants has become a hot topic of discussion recently.

The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) has regularly announced its findings to public, but critics remain skeptical that the statistics will be of any use. (08)