Ezra Sihite – A trip to Turkey and Denmark by members of the House of Representatives' Legislative Council to determine whether or not to change the Indonesian Red Cross logo has been criticized as an illogical waste of money by the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency.
Twenty members of the council, known as Baleg, reportedly flew to Turkey and Denmark on Monday to conduct a study on whether to keep the current logo or to change it to a red crescent to better reflect the country having the world's largest Muslim population.
"Baleg's excuse to fly to those two countries, Turkey and Denmark, just didn't make any sense," Fitra coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi said on Wednesday. "Why do they have to visit the two countries only to determine whether to keep the Red Cross logo?"
Rather than spending taxpayer funds on the trip, the government should have sought input from the public on whether to change the logo or not, he added. The House approved a travel budget of Rp 1.3 billion ($135,000) for both visits.
Taslim Chaniago, a member of the council who did not go on the trip, which he deemed "unimportant," said changing the logo came with safety considerations for the aid workers entering dangerous areas under the auspices of the Red Cross.
The National Mandate Party politician said that the logo was an internationally recognized symbol that provided a measure of protection for aid workers entering conflict-ridden areas.
"If the logo is replaced with a new one and then you enter a conflict-torn area, people might not recognize the [new] logo," he said.
House Deputy Chairman Taufik Kurniawan, however, supported the proposal to change the logo to a red crescent and denied that the visit to the two countries was solely for that purpose. He said the council members would be conducting a comparative study related to bill deliberation during the visit.
He added that changing the logo was worth considering, as the current one was designed during World War II. "There are no more wars now," Taufik said. "The study to design a new logo is an innovation."
The Red Cross, now known as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, was founded in 1861 in Switzerland. The affiliated Indonesian Red Cross was founded in 1945.