Playing the percentages

I have some advice for the President and all the senior government officials who are getting ready to vote themselves raises: Don't! My experience in numerous countries confirms that huge pay increases given by government officials to themselves stick in the memories of voters, no matter how long before the next election the raises were given.

Even worse is pay increases, such as proposed here, which increase by hundreds of percent the salaries of those who have the power to make the law, while giving only raises of tens of percent to those really need the money and voted that same government into power on the promise of a better life for everyone. Psychologically, of course, the government will get away with it, just as governments in other countries have always gotten away with it, because the voters say to themselves, "We'd better not shout too loud about this, otherwise we might not even get the rumored 20 percent pay increase."

Then we find that when it comes time for the actual decision in the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly, surprise, surprise, the finance minister "discovers" that there is only enough in the bank, after the raise of hundreds of percent for himself and the other senior leaders, for the rest of us to get raises of 10 percent or less. And by the time this is voted on, organized opposition has died down and is very difficult to revive.

The reality is that everyone has been grossly underpaid for many, many years and this is probably the main reason for the top-to-bottom corruption in the whole of the government and civil service. But anyone who thinks that raises, no matter how huge, will do away with most of the corruption is quite stupid or purposely blind. Each of us has only to look inside ourself to see that we will never have enough money, even if we cover all our expenses three times over. By next month we will have added to those expenses and will need another raise. And when that is not received, well "everyone who needs my approval or my stamp on a document can surely pay a little administrative fee, can't they?"

A raise is the start of the needed reforms, but it must be equitable. (Incidentally, comparisons with pay levels in other countries are meaningless). Already the President and all other members of the government receive very generous allowances in addition to their salaries, and, in fact, are quite able to bank the whole of their salaries each month and live on the allowances. Apart from a rice allowance and basic health care, civil servants, on the other hand, need at least one more salary to take car of their needs (note needs, not wants) and the needs of their families; i.e. the civil servants are the ones who should be having their salaries increased by hundreds of percent!

Another word for equity is justice and that is very difficult to come by anywhere in the world these days, but this is no reason why the Indonesian government should not try to stop the seemingly endless progression of sheer necessity leading to more and more corruption.

W. WALLER

Cianjur, West Java