Immoral practices

Immoral practices

From Pelita

As an honorable nation we should reject the perception that corruption has become a culture in Indonesia. But reality shows us that corruption prevails. The ministry of religious affairs, a state institution that is responsible for moral and mental development, is not free from corruption.

In every recruitment program for civil servants in the office of the ministry of religious affairs in Maluku, for example, the successful candidates are demanded to pay several hundreds of thousands of rupiah for issuance of their employment decrees. The fees vary according to the rank and position candidates apply for. For diploma holders the fee is set at Rp 300,000, holders of master degrees Rp 350,000. Imagine how much money was collected from 107 candidates.

The government is to change the status of the Islamic educational institutions in Maluku province to state-owned institutions. Certain individuals have taken advantage of this program for personal material gains.

Each school involved is required to pay Rp 1,500,000 to process the documents in Jakarta. A large amount of money will be collected from a number of schools for that purpose. Grafts have been accepted as a tool to make business run smoothly. And these illegal fees are paid to different desks involved in the process. Without grafts the work will become stagnant.

But when will this practice end? We are always being taught to uphold attitudes such as amar ma'ruf nahi mungkar (let's promote good deeds and avoid immoral actions). But is it worth expressing moral teachings when individuals continue to indulge themselves in distasteful activities?

Name and address

known to the editor