Voluntary donations?
Voluntary donations?
In less than five months from now, Jakarta will be proud host
to the 19th Southeast Asian Games -- or SEA Games, as it is more
popularly known -- which is scheduled to open on Oct. 11 with
pomp and ceremony at the capital's Senayan sports complex.
Without a doubt, the holding of such an important event of
this magnitude warrants special efforts, which any good citizen
would be proud to participate in. Jakarta, after all, is the
capital of Southeast Asia's largest country. Jakarta's good name
will be dependent on the manner in which it organizes the games.
Not only must it prepare its athletes so that they will be
able to compete with honor with fellow athletes from
participating regional countries. The sports facilities must be
in prime condition, which means the upgrading, and perhaps
extension, of many existing facilities. Proper accommodations and
smooth transportation must be prepared for guest athletes.
Service staff must be hired and trained, and so forth, and so
forth...
Needless to say, all of these things cost money. And so, there
is no need to be surprised by the fact that, by a Minister of
Social Services' decree, an organizing consortium -- called the
PT Angkasa Ronagraha -- was recently set up to raise funding.
Funding included Rp 40 billion (US$16.5 million) from the public,
plus donations amounting to Rp 20 billion from companies such as
National Panasonic, Tiger Beer, Konika, Aqua and Nikon.
The consortium's vice-chairman, Bambang Yogasugama, has said
that this will be done by distributing 17,750,000 stickers among
the public, including 16,000 stickers at a set price of Rp 1,000
each, and 1,750,000 that cost between Rp 2,500 and Rp 50,000
each. The consortium is cooperating with state-owned electricity
company PLN, water supply company PAM, telecommunications company
PT Telkom, and with hotels and airports in all 27 provinces of
Indonesia.
The stickers, according to Bambang, will not burden the
public, since they will only be sold to those with money.
Besides, the money raised by the stickers is small in comparison
to the total Rp 101 billion (US$42 million) which the event is
expected to cost. Also, as Indonesian National Sports Council
chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar assured reporters, "everything has
been planned effectively. There is no money being wasted. No one
is taking advantage of it."
If so, how can we explain the objections that have been raised
to the arrangement? Complaints, for example, have been heard from
people who object to the consortium automatically adding
"voluntary" donations to their monthly telephone or electricity
bills. Moviegoers and housewives have also complained about the
apparently compulsory SEA Games charges that are added to cinema
tickets or shopping bills.
A councilor in Jakarta's city legislature has advised people
with low incomes to muster the courage in refusing to contribute
to the games. For many people, even those who most of us might
not consider belonging to low-income groups, the expenditure of
even a mere Rp 1,000 is something that is carefully considered.
But perhaps objections are not so much against the amount levied
as they are against the ostensibly arbitrary manner in which
Jakarta's population is burdened with extra charges every time a
major public event comes looming into sight.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) suggests that the
public's rights be respected and the custom of slapping extra
fees on public utility bills for the purpose of collecting
donations for events be abandoned. More importantly, any use of
money collected from the public should be audited by a public
accountant and should be published to prevent abuse. This is
certainly a good suggestion to heed.