MTQ Champion in Bima Receives Empty Envelope, Committee's Reason Deemed Unreasonable
The overall champion of the Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran (MTQ) at the Ambalawi District level, Bima Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), was given an empty envelope, while the third-place winner received only Rp 100,000. The Bima Regency Government has finally responded to the incident.
The Head of the Welfare Division of the Bima Regency Regional Secretariat, Ahyani, confirmed the occurrence. Ahyani stated that her office had directly verified the matter with the MTQ committee and the Ambalawi District Government.
“We have checked. It is indeed true. We deeply regret this,” Ahyani said when confirmed on Wednesday (23/9/2026).
Ahyani explained that based on the findings, the committee justified the empty envelope and the Rp 100,000 prize by citing budget limitations. Ahyani deemed this reason highly questionable, as budget constraints are a reality for all districts.
“For example, the implementation of the MTQ at the Donggo District level, despite limited budget, saw the adult category winner receive a prize of Rp 5 million,” she said.
She emphasised that the prizes for the MTQ activities in Ambalawi District have no connection to the Bima Regency Government, including the Regent and Vice Regent of Bima. This is because the management and administration of the MTQ delegation are structured hierarchically according to level.
“The MTQ delegation from the village level is managed by the village government, the district level by the district government, and so on up to the national level,” she asserted.
It was previously reported that the MTQ at the Ambalawi District level, Bima Regency, NTB, caused an uproar and drew significant scrutiny. The reason was that the qori (Quran reciter) who won the overall championship received an empty envelope, while the third place received only Rp 100,000.
The incident was immediately revealed by the winner’s family via the Facebook account ‘Iwannda Kole’. The account owner expressed disappointment with the committee, particularly as the winner comes from an underprivileged family.
“It is true that our family’s economic status is below average, but you should not play with us like this,” wrote Iwannda, as quoted by detikBali on Sunday (20/9).