The problems of our country are both systemic and cultural. Indeed, some of the problems are so persistent that they have been accepted as the norm, and hence the culture. Corruption is indeed the most persistent of the problems our nation faces.
The problem with corruption in the general society is that it not only takes away from us money and materials, and increases economic costs for living and doing business, it costs our people the spirit of nation-building.
To reach great heights as a nation, there needs to be a shared sense among the people, a general consensus: A conscious national drive to reach greatness.
And what corruption does best is take this away from us. It helps to protect the vested interests of the minority oligarchs in this country while leaving the rest of society with the shorter end of the stick.
No longer are we seeing the rigor and youthful exuberance commonly present in countries that are fast developing.
Take China, for example. Thirty years ago, many of the great cities of China were nothing more than paddy fields and small villages. Today, there are hundreds of world-class cities in China. Shanghai for one, was a mere swampland 20 years ago, but today it houses over 6,000 skyscrapers and 20 million people.
Such an astonishing feat was achieved within the lifetime of a single generation. In the long history of China, Shanghai has emerged almost in the blink of an eye. Knowing this and many other great success stories, such as the development of South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, puts into perspective the pitiful state of our civilization.
The seemingly general acceptance of our populace of corruption as a part and parcel of Indonesian culture has effectively trapped our country into this quagmire of poverty and decadence.
Corruption has that quality that once it is accepted as a cultural norm, it becomes self-perpetuating.
Now, our country has become one where people are permissive of dishonest deeds, where Justice is unjust toward the disadvantaged of our society, where there is apparent neglect by the rich toward the poor, and the poor seemingly will never shed their shroud of poverty.
My fellow Indonesians, though the challenge ahead of us is great and the odds are stacked against those who wish for a better tomorrow, we must believe in our ability to change. Remember, that although graft and corruption may be our culture, this is not unchangeable.
Culture is not something set in stone. Culture is created by the people and decided by the people. The people choose what their cultural norm. Not one man, not the oligarchs of this country, not the NGOs, no one has the power to decide our culture. It is only the people, the 240 million of us who can decide that.
Freeman Prometheus
Jakarta
