Medan, North Sumatra – Students grouped under the North Sumatra Students Strategic Assessment Institute collected coins amounting to Rp 221,650 from three spots in Medan on Friday to be given to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who recently said that he had not received a salary increase in seven years.

"We hope the President will feel relieved with the coins we give to him," said student representative James Ambarita after counting coins collected from the public and members of the North Sumatra legislative council.

Responding to the coin collection, Prosperous Justice Party legislator Hidayatullah, who also contributed, urged the public to see that the moral action was not only for the President.

He said the action actually was a moral message to all government officials to pay more attention to duty rather than their salaries.

"This is a slap in the face to all officials in the country," Hidayatullah said, adding that he saw the spontaneous movement as genuine and without engineering by special interest groups.