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.