As the seven students, all clad in grey-and-white uniforms and two sporting acoustic guitars, stepped up to the microphone in front of their school, SMAN 13, in Koja, North Jakarta, the heavens opened, pouring rain onto the marquee.
However, the shower only prompted whoops and cheers from the audience, mostly comprising schoolmates.
The band then launched into a song about "putting honesty first" and "upholding justice."
A few meters away, more students were busy signing a long, white banner as a sign of support in the battle against corruption.
The words "honesty" and "combating corruption" voiced by the students seemed to reflect the public's longing for truth amid the fiasco surrounding the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is at the center of a scandal involving the National Police an the Attorney General's Office.
The students of SMAN 13 drafted a declaration of anticorruption during the day.
"We support the upholding of law and actions to eradicate corruption in all state institutions... We grieve the dishonesty that's prevalent among state institutions," read part of the document.
The passion behind the event began during 11th-grade civic education lessons, Retno Listyarti, spokeswoman for the high school, said.
"I didn't want to use conventional teaching methods, so I held a song-writing contest for the 11th-grade students who were learning about democracy, diversity and justice," Retno said.
The students were enthusiastic about the competition, so she decided to hold a big final competition between the winners from each class.
All the while the students absorbed the news surrounding the KPK.
"The students came up with the idea of combining the contest with a declaration to support the fight against corruption because the contest's momentum coincided with the KPK and *National Police* brouhaha," Retno said.
Despite heavy rain and having only two weeks to prepare, the contest was a memorable event, with members of the KPK and Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) judging the event.
The target of gathering 1,000 signatures on the white banner was also fulfilled, with 900 students and around 90 members of staff providing their signatures, Retno said.
"We thank SMAN 13 for supporting the KPK in eradicating corruption. Most support comes from universities or NGOs, but this is amazing," Yudi Purnomo from the KPK said during the event.
According to the students, the event was not held to support just the KPK, rather it was a show of solidarity against corruption in a broader sense.
"We don't *support certain parties*, we support the education to battle corruption," Mutiara from the students' association said.
The signed banner will, however, be sent to the KPK office because the body is still considered an antigraft icon, Retno said.
The KPK has prosecuted dozens of politicians, police and bussinesspeople in graft cases. (JP/dis)
