Is shifting holidays a reasonable policy?

Mochtar Buchori, Educator, Jakarta

The government's decision to shift this year's holiday for the Islamic New Year -- 1 Muharram 1424 -- from Tuesday, March 4, to Monday, March 3, has generated controversy.

Three reasons were given by the government to justify this policy: one, to give the public -- especially office workers -- an opportunity to enjoy an extended weekend; two, to help the tourist industry recover from its present slump; and three, to improve efficiency among private and government employees.

Those who opposed this policy raised the following arguments: one, this policy would discourage the cultivation of a hard- working culture (journalist Rosihan Anwar); two, it would reinforce civil servants' habit of not adhering to strict discipline (lecturer at Driyarkara School of Philosophy Muji Sutrisno); three, it was a solely pragmatic act which overlooked its educational and religious impacts (Muji Sutrisno); and four, religious holidays had special meanings and could not be shifted at will (religious leaders).

I have two criticisms to add. First, holidays always symbolize something. Changing the date of a holiday may blur or distort the meaning of that particular holiday. Second, I doubt if extending weekends would improve the discipline of civil servants and reduce absenteeism among them.

For instance, Aug. 17 symbolizes the birth of an independent country for Indonesians. How would people react if on a particular Aug. 17, the nation's independence day was shifted to Aug. 18 or Aug. 16 just for the sake of having an extended holiday?

Franklin D. Roosevelt mentioned this principle in 1936. He said that in the United States and Canada, Labor Day -- which falls on the first Monday in September -- symbolizes the determination of laborers to achieve economic freedom. Labor Day also honors the working people. Would a Labor Day that was shifted to a Tuesday in September still convey the same message and spirit?

Another example: April 1 is April Fool's Day. Any foolish or dirty trick pulled on someone on April 1 is considered a harmless joke. This is because April 1 symbolizes, in Western societies, collective foolishness. Mark Twain said in this regard, "April 1 symbolizes what we are on the other 364 days."

How foolish are we really? It depends on your idea of what is a fool or what is foolish. If you believe the following lines, "Man is a fool / When it's hot, he wants it cool / When it's cool, he wants it hot / He always wants what he has not", then you would agree that to a certain extent we are all fools. Thomas Muller, M.D. said in 1732 that "Every man hath a fool in his sleeves."

This may be why, in any Western society, people will react to practical jokes on April 1 in a forgiving manner. This kind of spirit cannot be found on any other day in April, and any joke or trick pulled on any other day in April would be taken as a serious affront, perhaps not easily forgiven.

Thus, certain holidays can perhaps be shifted without causing serious harm or concern, but certain holidays cannot be shifted without creating anger or frustration. Religious holidays and other holidays that are considered to be sacred or sacrosanct fall in this category.

In addition, it is highly doubtful as to whether extended weekends improve the work ethos. The work ethos that a person or a society has at any one time is the product of education and personal or social development. Improvements in work ethos cannot be made through short-term, indirect measures like an extended weekend.

Genuine improvement of work ethos can be acquired only if there is a sustained effort to continuously evaluate and improve upon one's performance. There is just no instant way of ameliorating the work ethos of a society.

What is our main issue at present -- improving the work ethos of our work force, especially that of our civil servants, or giving the public the luxury of having an extended weekend? What I find annoying in this regard is that the government was using a big argument to justify a petty policy, i.e., soothing the frustration and disappointment of the public, especially our civil servants, caused by our present conditions. This is like presenting a stick of gum on a silver platter.

Improving the efficiency of government and private employees and boosting the recovery of our tourism industry are objectives that are too big and too important to be achieved through the creation of extended weekends.

Improving efficiency is, in essence, improving our way of doing things. Boosting the recovery of our tourism industry during this difficult time basically means -- according to Minister of Culture and Tourism Gede Ardika -- giving a more definite form to our national character and civilization, and enhancing our national openness toward other cultures.

If the government is sincere about pursuing these two lofty goals, then it should be looking for more promising ways than shifting holidays.

To borrow the words of Greek fabulist Aesop (c. 620 B.C. - c. 560 B.C.), the way the government is pursuing these two goals fits the following sentence: "Lofty words may disguise, but logically inconsequential actions will disclose the thinking of a fool."