Nothing wrong with reference letter?

Nothing wrong with reference letter?

From Tempo

One of the members of the Supreme Advisory Council, Sugiarto,
said recently that people must not confuse reference letters with
katabelece, or memos written by persons in power to guarantee
that someone will get a job or some other favor.

I do not really understand why he is so naive about this,
although I know he wants to defend the head of the Supreme
Advisory Council, Sudomo, who is charged with being involved in
the gigantic Bapindo credit fraud. This all just goes to show how
bad the morality of our officials is.

The fact is that Sugiarto often writes reference letters. For
example, he gave a reference letter recently to one of his
colleagues, whose son wanted to enter the Military Academy.

Does he think that the culture of sungkan (a Javanese practice
which requires that younger people or those who have lower social
status refrain from refusing a request or from arguing about what
elders or people of higher social status say) is valid in this
country? He should realize that a reference letter from those who
have power and high military rank will influence any decision.

I am absolutely convinced that the son of his colleague will
be accepted as a the student at the Military Academy.

The use of reference letters encourages unhealthy competition.
Because those who have a close relationship with a powerful
person in this country will hold reference letters and those who
don't will be ignored. So, that means that reference letters are
more valuable than merit. Hard work is nothing compared to
lobbying.

SIGIT SETIAWAN

Temanggung, C. Java