A MEMBER of the Jakarta Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) recently confided to a Koran TEMPO journalist his unease over a budget notice. It seems the official document showed a Rp50 million honorarium allocated to him for participating in the governor's accountability report at the end of his term. "Isn't this an attempt at bribery" he asked.

The answer depends on one's own conscience. Clearly, any sensible person would have