Discussion Text "Tabungan Perumahan Rakyat (TAPERA)"

Recently, In Indonesia country, society has been shocked because of the issue of TAPERA or Public Housing Savings which was decided by Mr. Jokowi to include all employees both civil servants and the private sector to be mandatory to join this program reaping the pros and cons. This issue has become even hotter when the debate between the two camps continues to rage between the workers and employers, there are some arguments that support both pros and cons about this issue and will be discussed below.

The first argument to support this issue is that TAPERA helps workers who have low salaries to get a decent house because it is reported that in Indonesia alone there are 9.9 million citizens who do not have a decent house, therefore the existence of TAPERA helps workers to get a decent house by making monthly instalments. Workers pay 2.5% of their salary and 0.5% will be paid by the employer. Surely, the government believes that TAPERA will be beneficial for the employee.

On the other hand, some people think that this decision will be troublesome for employers because in addition to having to pay the 0.5% TAPERA contribution, they also still have to think about employee salaries, retirement severance pay, and so on. Moreover, if the employer is self-employed or a private employee whose income is uncertain, still in the stage of business development, it will be burdensome for the business owner.

Secondly for the TAPERA issue, if workers already own a house, or at the end of the age limit where the TAPERA money will be disbursed those who pay do not want to buy a house, they can use TAPERA as savings or for long-term investment. Some workers will already own or inherit a house, so the TAPERA money that can be withdrawn at age 58 can be used for other things. This can help workers to set aside savings that are deducted from their basic salary, which is only 2.5%.

On the opposite, some people, especially employees, strongly believe that TAPERA will be burdensome. Those who have a low UMR today already have to bear various deductions, namely the Old Age Security (JHT) of 2.5%, Pension Security 1%, BPJS Health 1%, and union dues which can reach 1%. With the addition of TAPERA, the total deductions can reach almost 10% of salary. Then, if some workers use TAPERA as savings or investment, many people are still wary and suspicious because of the many cases of corruption in the present that are getting worse from year to year, can the government guarantee that money from TAPERA will not be corrupted or hidden? And also, can the government guarantee that when collecting TAPERA money in the future the process will be easy and fast? The public is haunted by this concern because of the many cases of embezzlement of BPJS funds in the past, corrupt individuals who are still free to roam, and also the many bribes that occur in Indonesia.

In conclusion, I think TAPERA will be an enormous burden for many employees, especially employees who have small salaries and have received many salary deductions such as BPJS and pension funds, although the government has good intentions to help improve the welfare of employees by providing decent housing, but many people, especially me, will definitely reject it. Besides being burdensome, the ubiquitous corruption cases also make people worried about keeping their money with the government. The advice I can give is that, since many people are still unfamiliar with this new policy, the government must aggressively socialize it. Both from ensuring that the institutional system that manages these savings is professional, accountable, and transparent and must learn from similar policies such as pension funds, BPJS Health and Employment. In addition, do not require all people, especially employees with salaries below the minimum wage, to join the TAPERA program. The government must classify which ones are required to join the TAPERA program and which ones are not. Finally, in the TAPERA policy, there needs to be a review to provide benefits to the community.