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On the importance of shame culture
Setiono Sugiharto , Jakarta | Sat, 09/06/2008 11:28 AM | Opinion
The paradoxes of Indonesia's present are many: There are more educated people, but fewer judicious leaders; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we expect to get more, but work less.
We have widened our freeways, but not our horizons. We earn higher university degrees, but we have less sense and judgment. We sharpen our intellectual capacities, but not the capacities of our hearts. We speak more against injustice, but take less action. We uphold religious values, but never manifest them in our deeds.
We need not be ashamed to admit that all of these are the true portraits depicting our societal life today. While poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and malnutrition rates remain relatively high, corruption, misappropriation of state funds, abuse of power, bribery, illegal levies and other forms of immoral acts and injustices still prevail, making headlines in almost all local newspapers as well as electronic media, and becoming everyday public consumption.
This corrupt mind set has been so ingrained in our culture that it is difficult, if not impossible, to diminish it in a short period of time.
If we retrace the overwhelming cases of corrupt practices committed by state officials during the New Order administration, and relate them to our current cases, we can see that the corrupt mentality has become a legacy passed down from one generation to the next.
It is possible that our future generations will inherit the same reprehensible mindset enacted by their forebears once they rise to power and hold powerful political positions in government administrations.
The seemingly never-ending corrupt practices which implicate state officials in important government institutions form a clear sign that Indonesians feel no shame.
We are never ashamed of our greed or other disgraceful deeds that have created misery for thousands and even millions of people in all areas -- the same people who are guaranteed prosperous and decent livelihoods by the Constitution.
Watching televisions airing news of convicted corruptors standing trial, for example, one can see that they -- who feel no shame or remorse -- can respond to reporters' questions with smiling faces, giving the impression that nothing is wrong and that they have committed no wrong.
Furthermore, almost never in our cabinet's history have we witnessed a minister tender his resignation due to a lack of expertise or incompetence, or due to alleged corruption scandals, as was recently seen in the case implicating the state minister for the National Development and Forestry Ministry.
By way of comparison, we still recall the case of the health minister under the Badawi administration in Malaysia whose leaked sex tape caused uproar among Malaysians. Without pressure from the public or his premier, the then-minister boldly admitted his misconduct, made a public apology and soon tendered his resignation from the cabinet.
These few instances show us that we have not yet developed a culture of shame, where Malaysia has.
The notoriety of corrupt government bureaucracy has also long been with us, with those who are supposed to serve the public for free extorting money from them. It comes as no surprise that the public perceive the House of Representatives as one of the most corrupt institutions.
Korupsi berjamaah (collective corruption), a recently coined catchphrase, has seen a lot of use of late. It is used to describe collectively high-profile corrupt practices implicating those in the legislative body, the Indonesian Central Bank (BI) and the Supreme Court.
Political figures, lawmakers, prosecutors and cabinet ministers are supposed to set an example and serve as role-models to the public as individuals who are not only intellectually capable, but also morally decent.
They also must be aware that they are central public figures who are emulated by the public and are also representatives in whom the people put their trust when voicing their aspirations to the government.
With the people's trust and mandates empowering them in their duties, it is ironic that an overwhelming number of high-profile corrupt practices take place within the legislative body.
Instilling a culture of shame among young generations is imperative and should begin at school. Ethics, as a branch of philosophy dealing with morality, should be considered as an alternative school subject to be included in the curriculum.
Through this subject, students can learn principles by studying case studies as well as basic principles that uphold intellectual honesty. They can be told that cheating during exams and plagiarizing scholarly works are akin to a "corrupt mentality" and moral indecorousness, with suspension and even expulsion from school awaiting as an academic sanction for those committing these acts.
Imposing a culture of shame can also be initiated by mocking and humiliating convicted perpetrators in public; for instance by exposing them, with their hands handcuffed, to the public via both print media coverage and electronic media.
People may also wish that someday they will watch a convicted high-profile graft perpetrator on their TV screen being detained and being clad in a uniform that reads Tahanan KPK Kasus Korupsi (the detainees of the Corruption Eradication Commission for corruption cases).
The writer is chief-editor of the Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching and teaches English composition at Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta. He can be reached at setiono.sugiharto@atmajaya.ac.id
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Mohammad Ali (not verified) — Sat, 09/13/2008 - 3:36am
There must be a beginning to end all corruption in Indonesia, but it cannot be from top down or bottom up. It must be done in all fronts, from the parent who bribed his son with Rp.1000 to shut up during a family function, the citizen that bribed the 'RT/RW' to obtain faster services on his identity card 'KTP' application, the policemen that set a trap and ask for money to release the driver's license, and the judge received money to release a guilty man, the Congressman that received Rp 500 million to elect a new BI Administrator, the peasant that sold his cow and rice paddy to pay Rp 50 million for his son ingression to the Police School, the custom officers that charge rp 10.000 for a simple stamp in a document (it has to have at least 5 stamps, 5 initials, 5 dates, 5 numbers, 5 supervisors), the man who paid Rp 600 thousand to have his passport made in one day (it costs Rp 150 thousand to make it in 2 days), the 'pak ogah' that charges rp500 for every vehicle turning, the timer that charges every minivan 'angkot' Rp 1000 for every trip (there are at least 5 timers in a route), and to the vice president that imposed a mandatory use of 3kg LPG canisters, and there are none in the market now. When this is all done, Indonesia will survive being a great nation. Till then, my friends.
F. Richardson - Opentrial (not verified) — Thu, 09/11/2008 - 4:14pm
This is an excellent article. Insightful, concise and well written. It is critical, but offers solutions. Indonesia lacks transactional integrity and it is this that is the cause of corruption as well as violence and drug, women and child trafficking. Pak Setiono is placing the responsibility fairly and squarely on the shoulders of Indonesians, where it belongs. Unfortunately, many Indonesians, in turning to finger-pointing and scapegoating, only perpetuate their problems. Pak Setiono demonstrates a maturity that needs to become much more common in others in Indonesia.
Joko Arif (not verified) — Mon, 09/08/2008 - 10:55am
A very good opinion. But I don't think that shame culture is just enough. Shame culture is needed, but it's only the beginning of an ethical development, as it is only a bit part of morality. What we need most is guilt culture.
Pak Urip dan Ibu Artalyta are ashamed. But do they feel guilty? I don't think so. Our corrupt legislators are ashamed of the gratifications they had received and thus busy joint hands in giving back the money to KPK. But do they feel guilty?
The base of doing or not doing something should be whether it is right or wrong, not whether I'll be ashamed because of it or not. Students should not cheating because it's wrong and they'll have guilt in doing so, not because they'll be ashamed of it. This is what we should teach. Shame culture is artificial but guilt culture is absolute and universal.
Brien (not verified) — Mon, 09/08/2008 - 8:23am
"Ethics, as a branch of philosophy dealing with morality, should be considered as an alternative school subject to be included in the curriculum."
Ethics is required, usually 2 semesters, in all MBA courses in America. (Replace the required egocentric religious courses in all high schools and universities)
But if you are serious about ending corruption, then create a proper tax department. It must be above suspicion with its own internal self investigative police. It must conduct due diligence audits. It must have the authority to arrest, no exceptions, and confiscate possessions. eg If you cannot prove how you earned your bank account funds or your new house or Mercedes, they are immediately confiscate (you are guilty, if you cannot prove your innocence). It must have its own prosecutors and courts, totally independant of the normal legal system.