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West Java Council says employees to read and write Arabic
Reading and writing in Arabic is a must for civil servants and village heads in Bogor.The Regent of Bogor in West Java announced recently that employees of the Bogor Council are required to read and write in Arabic, to the point where they will be qualified and able to lead five-daily prayers. The ruling applies to all Muslim city employees of at least Echelon II rank. H Rachmat Yasin, who is from Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP) and ran for office in coalition with Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P), says he made the new regulation because he felt obligated to reward the support of Muslim clerics for him: "They put their trust in me to lead Bogor, I'm committed to doing what is necessary to keep up the good work that clerics have done." Rachmat Yasin says that many public servants are uneasy about having to lead prayers and that in the beginning some of them had to be forced, but overall: "It's turning out well, nowadays employees are busy learning how to read the Quran." Rachman hoped that employees would learn to see their new duty as a joy instead of something onerous. The policy will shortly be applied to village heads in the regency. In future any person who seeks the position of village head will be required to demonstrate ability to read the Quran in Arabic. Elsewhere in Indonesia similar policies are applied in Aceh, West Sumatra, and South Sulawesi. Meanwhile the regent says his administration is gearing up for a new attack on social ills, primarily prostitution, with the Bogor-Parung route and Puncak areas to be targeted. Posted by: classer 2009-02-16 |
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