Letter: Don't talk about graft; stop it

Wed, 03/19/2008 12:19 AM  |  Reader's Forum

Indonesians may be not aware that all aspects of their life are trapped in a chain of corruption, starting early in the morning until the evening comes, when we go to work until we finish our job, from when we first enter school or college to our graduation and when we are born until we are dead.

Bribery is often seen as the solution to get birth certificates, identity cards, driving licenses, health insurance for free healthcare, enrollment in kindergarten to university and a letter of poverty from the subdistrict office.

Corruption develops from the simplest to the most sophisticated methods, starting from the parking attendant who does not give tickets to vehicle owners to suppliers who mark up the procurements of goods and services for government institutions.

People also tend to corrupt when there's a chance. At first probably he has no intention, but as the opportunity get nearer in his eyes, sometimes people's faith can change drastically.

Since there are so many corruptors, we may not even realize whether we are corruptors or not.

Long talks and debates about corruption have occurred here but the discussion on how we are going to prevent or abolish corruption is deliberately being stalled. I think it is not a time to talk, but to stop corruption.

PAKU UTAMA
Jakarta

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