Narcotic prevention and cash handouts

This morning I joined Sumi and the rest of the SIKOK staff in going to a conference about narcotic use in Jambi. A delegation from the National Narcotics Commission had organized it at Jambi’s swankiest hotel and representatives from the community joined to discuss the current situation and potential methods for drug use prevention ad rehabilitation. I thought it notable that the opening ceremony was marked by everyone standing to sing the national anthem- and then pray together. While the subject was interesting- Jambi City turns out to have the 6th highest population percentage of drug users in Indonesia!- I went back to the office after lunch to work on grant proposals.

This decision meant that I missed the conference’s conclusion when every participant received 100,000 rupiah (about $10) for attending! (That is about three days of spending money for me here so it’s a lot!) This last step in a series of perplexing money handouts is starting to give me a better idea how money politics is so entrenched in Indonesian society. About a month ago I was unexpectedly given 100,000 rupiah for being a monitor at the leadership election for a national women’s organization. Then my staff all received the same amount after helping with last week’s film showing, a program that to me just seems like it should be part of our job. And today, attendees at a government-organized conference on narcotic prevention receive a small token of appreciation for sticking it out to the end of the day! I am going to have to find out now if people always expect this kind of reward for their “presence” and where else this goes on. If the public agrees with receiving this money for attending an informational conference on a subject they already work on, it seems logical they would expect to get money for showing up at a election rally for a candidate, whether or not they support them.