Moslems told to help fight poverty

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is urging the Islamic community in Indonesia to mobilize funds to finance various efforts to eliminate poverty, most notably in funding the education of poor children.

While opening the 17th National Koranic Reading Contest (MTQ) in Pekanbaru, Riau last night, Soeharto said that poverty eradication is part of the national development program which is not only a national duty, but also a "religious calling."

"If the Moslem community can collect huge funds to stage an event like this contest, then we should also be capable of mobilizing funds for the eradication of poverty," he said.

"Doesn't the Koran state that we will be defying God if we do not take care of the orphans and the poor?" Soeharto asked. "Didn't the Prophet also state that our devotion is deemed imperfect if we still have brothers and sisters who live in want while we live in abundance?"

The week-long event, to be participated in by some 1,500 people from all corners of Indonesia, has already been criticized by some people in Riau as a "waste of money" as it cost a total of Rp 14 billion ($6.6 million) to stage, the Antara news agency reported.

But Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher justified the spending in terms of the benefits the MTQ brings for education, for the religion and for Riau tourism. "In Islam, the term waste has some evil connotations. So let's not make some bad presumptions."

Riau Governor Soeripto said that the province is benefiting from hosting the event, citing the construction of the Taman Mini Riau (the Riau miniature park) where the contest is being staged.

Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Hasan Basri also rejected the suggestion that the MTQ is extravagant. "You cannot judge this spiritual activity in material terms," he said.

Besides the Koranic reading contest, a series of seminars and an exhibition will be held in the course of next week in Pekanbaru.

The city is also taking the event seriously, knowing that it is attracting national attention for the next week. It has ordered all Moslem civil servants, students and public transport drivers to wear Moslem costumes everyday until July 24.

President Soeharto in his speech last night drew the participants' attention to the need for the Moslem community to join in the present government campaign to eradicate poverty.

"We have to seriously develop and combine all of our potential to show our social solidarity at a time when we are intensifying our development efforts," he said.

The MTQ is proof that, with the participation of the people, the nation can undertake large activities to help the poor, he said.

Soeharto urged various social-religious organizations in the country, which have succeeded in establishing education institutes, to launch scholarship programs to finance the education of poor children.

Giving them scholarships has a strategic value with long term benefits for the nation. "We're giving them a rod and hook, not the fish, by giving them an opportunity to obtain education," Soeharto said. (emb)