It has become a norm here in Indonesia that when a member of a family gets married the family puts this notice (or any of its variations) on the invitation card: "With all due respect we prefer not to receive flowers or other parcels, thank you". Which actually means: "Please just give us money". Economically, this practice is welfare-improving. Because its the newly-weds who know exactly what they want, not the gift givers. To save them time for exchanging some unneeded stuff, money is good.
But for the family of a state official, there is a constraint. The rule says, any government official is not allowed to receive graft or gifts worth more than Rp 1 million. And even in their wedding parties, the mighty KPK (corruption eradication commission) presents to examine the gifts.
So, I imagine, if these practices (along with the rule and KPK's method of checking) prevails, family (started by state officials') will have another notice on the invitation card, saying:
"For those of you who kindly intended to give us money more than Rp 1 million, please make sure to split the envelope and use different names. Better yet, just transfer it, separately into the following accounts: yyy and zzz. For assistance please call our secretary Ms. Moneypenny at this number xxx".
or send to our "wali amanat" account... :)
ReplyDeletelj
how about vouchers and store coupons? is that also applied? :D
ReplyDeletejust in case i'm marrying government official in the future, i need to know this stuff...
dHani
I second dHani's concern. This significantly reduces the interest not only to become a government officials, but also to marry children of government officials. The long-term effect can be a gap in the workforce, and disproportionate number of single adults. Not to mention many wedding-related companies that will go bankrupt. :D
ReplyDeleteyou need an about page!
ReplyDeleteOne million limit? Could you use this to calculate a wealth index for an economic stratum (presumably, middle or high one?)?
ReplyDeleteIrma Kurniawan
And plus note:
ReplyDeleteWe receive US Dollar only
-lol-