The First Family's Tax Reports

President Soesilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) has frequently stated about the need for people to fulfill their tax obligations, and about the importance of transparency regarding the wealth of government/state officials.

That's why I was very surprised when The Jakarta Post reported about some discrepancies in the annual Tax Reports filed by him and his sons i.e. Major Agus Harimurti (Agus) and Edhie Baskoro (Ibas) for the year 2011 (below).

The paper wrote that the President's tax report mentioned that he earned Rp 1,37 Billion as President in addition to Rp 107 Million in income from Royalties. That year, SBY opened bank accounts worth 4.98 Billion and US$ 589.188 but there's no specific details for these funds.

Agus mentioned that his annual income as an Army officer is Rp 70,2 million, and he has 4 savings accounts at four different banks totaling Rp 1.63 Billion, but he did not give information about his or his wife's additional income. The total tax he paid amounts to Rp 2.7 Million.

Whereas Ibas mentioned that as a member of the People's Representative Council he earned Rp 183 Million. He also mentioned an investment in PT Yastra Capital worth Rp 900 Million, saving account of Rp 1,59 Billion, and cash money of Rp 1,57 Billion. However, he did not mention other sources of income like dividend, share etc.  The tax he paid : Rp 20 Million. Whereas his tax report in 2010 mentioned that his assets worth Rp 6 Billion including a car  Audi Q5 SUV worth Rp 1,16 Billion.

The Jakarta Post reported that President SBY has asked the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Taxation to publicly address the above mentioned discrepancy allegations. 

In this connection, the Director General of Taxation Fuad Rahmany clarified that the President and his sons have met the required taxation administration procedures and have complied with the existing law and regulations. He said that there is no way that the President's family failed to properly fill in their tax report. Because they have a special team that thoroughly calculates their tax obligations to ensure accuracy.

My Father Passed Away

Innalilahi Wa Inna Illaihi Rojiun  (English: 'Surely we belong to God and to God shall we return').

At 24.50 a.m Monday morning, my beloved Father ATJE SACHRIP passed away at the age of 81 years old.

According to his doctor, the cause of death is merely old age, although two weeks ago he has been treated ten days in a hospital.

For me, my sister and my brothers, our Father was a very good, loving and responsible man, who'll do all the good things to make our family happy. We are very grateful that he and our beloved Mother (80) have really been successful in raising us.

I pray to God that my Father's Soul shall rest in peace.

My Father is Okay Now !

This afternoon me and my kid brother Rafik took our father (81) home from a hospital in East Jakarta where he has been treated for Stomach and Throat pains since last Sunday evening.

Actually the medical specialist who treated father has told us last Tuesday that he can go home that day, but we want him to be recovered 100% so we decided to let him stay at the hospital until today.

Thank God, since this morning father has been very ready to go home because he felt very boring at the hospital and wants to be together with mother again at home. However, we only take him home after the specialist assured us that he is okay and can go home.

I am very glad that my father's health condition is okay now.

The King and His Loyal Servant

By Vina Tan, Family Consultant in Jakarta, blog: sangkudaapi.blogspot.com

"What happen if your children don't want to listen to your advice?"
"Do you get angry and keep on criticizing them for not obeying you?"
If yes, you are probably on the brink of making them stay away from you. You think your advice is good for them and if they don't listen, you are getting upset. It is not easy to become parents nowadays, isn't it? And, we need to become a better communicator in order that our children would listen to us. So, even when we have to criticize them, they still could accept. In other words, how we talk to our children is important to make them pay attention to what we say.

For people who don't want to be criticized, there is a famous Chinese saying:
"liang(2) yao(4) ku(3) kou(3)" or "good medicine tastes bitter" (please note that each number inside the bracket represents the phonetics used to distinguish different meanings in Chinese language). And, this proverb was gracefully explained in a story as follows:

Once upon a time in China, there lived a king who couldn't accept any critique. Everybody in the kingdom should follow what he said. As a result, he was surrounded by people who got used to praise him and high ranking officials who were incompetent to help the king run the empire. One day, when the enemy came to attack this kingdom, no one was able to protect and defend their country. Everybody flew away like a bird. Fortunately, the king, accompanied by his loyal servant was able to escape using a horse-drawn carriage. When the king was hungry and thirsty after hours fleeing his palace, the servant gave him delicious food to eat.

"How could you have this?" asked the King.
"I always prepare things for you, Your Highness to anticipate if one day when we have to flee this country, you can still survive." answered the loyal servant
"How did you know that one day I have to leave my kingdom?"
"I predicted long before it happened today."
"Why didn't anybody tell me?"
"You only wanted to hear admiration, adulation and adoration, Your Highness. If I told you before, I believe you would send me to the gallows. And, if I were dead, no one would accompany you today."

When the servant finished his words, the King lost his temper and his face was swollen from an outburst of anger. All of a sudden, he blamed and condemned his servant. The loyal servant was very upset and realized that the King would never ever change. He thought that even in this kind of difficult situation, the king was still heartless and ruthless. In order to avoid further conflict, the servant rephrased his words, "Your highness, I'm deeply sorry for what I've said. It's all my fault. Please forgive me."

Both of them remained silent till the King started the conversation again.
"Tell me, why do I have to leave my beloved kingdom and its people?"
"Cause you are very kind, Your Highness."
"But, why a good king like me could not enjoy his life in the palace and have to go into exile instead?"
"Unfortunately, as a kind-hearted king, you were not supported by good people. They all envy your wisdom and indirectly they forced you to leave your country."

Feeling dazzled, the king laid down his head on the servant's lap and felt asleep. Looking at the king, the servant thought that it was time for him to leave this silly and stupid emperor who didn't have the ability to run and rule his own kingdom. The servant then moved the king's head from his lap slowly and carefully and then walked away. After being left alone, the King who didn't know how to take care of himself was found dead.

Moral of the story: It's impossible to make progress in any aspect of your life if you don't want to be criticized. Criticism is just like a good medicine that tastes bitter. However, it has the power to penetrate deep into your inner organs and cure the disease.

Next time, please don't be upset if your children ignore what you've said to them. You can use the story I've just shared with you to remind them how important an advice or critique to make progress in life. I believe if you use this approach, you will be surprised to witness the power of storytelling to enhance your message to your beloved children.

Source: A Chinese book called 'Ren(2) Sheng(1)' - Making Your Choice in Life.

The Aquittal of Time Magazine

“Justice has prevailed!” That’s what I thought when I read the news last Thursday, 16 April, about our Supreme Court's verdict which accepted the Judicial Review requested by attorneys of Time Magazine, clearing all Defamation charges brought by the family of late former President Soeharto.

According to The Jakarta Post, the Supreme Court overturned its own verdict passed on August 2007, which required Time to pay US$ 106 Million Compensation for Damage to the Soeharto family. As the grounds for the verdict, Supreme Court Justice Hatta Ali said that Time "did not violate the law or breach ethical standards”.

The legal case started when Time (Asia) published in its 14 May 1999 edition an article tiled: “ Soeharto Inc., How Indonesia’s Longtime Boss Built a Family Fortune ”, which reported that Soeharto collected US$ 15 billion during 32 years in power, and transferred US$ 9 Billion from a bank in Swiss to a bank in Austria. Annoyed, Soeharto, through his team of attorneys led by Juan Felix Tampubolon, filed a Defamation Lawsuit demanding US$ 17.18 Billion compensation plus legal expenses. At the Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal Soeharto lose, but won the Cassation at the Supreme Court, due to which fact, Time has requested for the above Judicial Review.

Viva News reported according to their attorney Mohammad Assegaf, the Soeharto family has accepted the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Indonesian Alliance of Journalists (AJI) Nezar Patria said that AJI is grateful that the Supreme Court has adopted the Press Law and the Journalistic in handling this case.

I hope that the above verdict of the Supreme Court would be followed as Jurisprudence by other court judges in handling similar cases related to the news media.