Indonesia becomes the most generous country in the world according to the CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) in 2018.
CAF, which is an international charity foundation based in the UK, obtaines this figures from the calculation of the three indicators, namely the behaviours of helping strangers, donating money, and also volunteering to an organisation.
Data from the report published in October 2018 were obtained from 146 countries throughout 2017, of which its total number represents around 95% of the world's population.
Indonesia tops the index for the first time since it was first published nine years ago, followed by Australia and New Zealand.
When compared to Indonesia's performance in the previous year, which sees it as the second best, the country's three individual giving scores are largely unchanged. Indonesia is "benefited" from the poor performance of the country previously held the top spot since 2014, Myanmar, which slips down to ninth place.
Top 20 countries in the CAF World Giving Index 2018 (cafonline.org) Source: cafonline.org
After the Rohingya crisis reached its peak during 2017, the CAF report stated that it is difficult not to conclude that the troubles have contributed to the lack of willingness or inability of Myanmar people to donate in these ways.
Although Indonesia is , the CAF report states that the United Nations classifies the tropical country neighbouring Australia as a middle-lower-income economy country.
Rohingya displaced Muslims. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Tasnim News Agency/CC BY 4.0
According to data from the country's national statistics agency, in 2016 there were as many as 6.8 per cent of its people with US$1.90 per day.
Then why giving if still lacking?
The country projected to have a population of has a motto of "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" or Unity in Diversity. This motto is used to describe the unity of the nation which has diverse cultures, regional dialects, races, ethnicities, religions and beliefs.
Una Osili and Çağla Ökten write in their * that the state's motto together with the principle of "gotong royong" or community participation, which was increasingly emphasised when President Suharto took office, inspirits people's behaviour.
In the New Order era people were expected to provide volunteer labor, building materials and money to achieve development goals. Indonesian society grows practising a tradition of philanthropy and self-help.
Some Indonesiansto learn that their nation is a world leader in term of generosity said that it is just what the people do. “It’s not about religion.”
The CAF World Giving Index does not say about what factors are driving the growth in generosity, nor does it highlight the barriers which need to be removed to unleash it, nor does it aim to.
Gotong royong, a tradition of community participation in Indonesia. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Apryaje/CC BY-SA 4.0
*Osili U., Ökten Ç. (2015) Giving in Indonesia: A Culture of Philanthropy Rooted in Islamic Tradition. In: Wiepking P., Handy F. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
