Issue: Can we stop corruption in Indonesia?

Dec. 9, p. 7

It’s Dec. 9 again, the International Day against Corruption. Time to take stock of the developments on the corruption front over the last year. Needless to say, it was a tumultuous year as far as the corruption scenario in Indonesia was concerned. Corruption dominated the headlines almost everyday.
The year saw several new cases of corruption that rocked the nation. The country witnessed the helplessness and lethargy combined with demoralization of government agencies tasked to fight corruption.
People were also shocked by the complicity of the law enforcers in corruption scandals.
Nevertheless, on the positive side, there was a very interesting development. The civil society and media seem to be edging out the state as leaders in the fight against corruption.
They have never before been as vocal and outspoken as this. The loss for the state has been a gain for them and they have not shied from taking up this challenging initiative.
There is also clear indication that space in the fight against corruption is slowly being seized by people in general. Through Facebook protests and blogs and Internet campaigns and fund collections, ordinary people are slowly coming out to the forefront of Indonesia’s fight against corruption. (By Ajit Joy, Jakarta)

Your comments:

Corruption in Indonesia is now out of control. The problem is not just that the President, his government and the ruling elite in general, every agency, and each and every administrative department have failed in their fight against corruption: it is that they are the problem, and they have all refused to mend their vile ways.
The police, the AGO and the judiciary seem also to be so corrupt and not fit for their purpose. The Police, as an example, are not at all a
force for the good, for the enforcement of law.
The President is unwavering in his support for the police, which has allowed them to grow very powerful. What hope can there be when our leader is this way inclined. Sadly, to top off a pretty gloomy picture, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) seems now to have had its testicles surgically removed by the powerful forces behind the country’s worst organized white collar crime, those responsible for massive and ongoing embezzlements of state funds.
Corruption is a crime against humanity. The punishments for the corrupt need to be much harsher, and for the most serious cases, the death penalty needs to be given.
Didi
Bandung

Corruption will not end in Indonesia until the public are aware of their rights. Take the police and traffic as an example. They change the rules on a whim, make no indication of that change and in most cases the rules are arbitrary or make no sense.
If motorists don’t know the rules as written then they don’t know their rights under the law, which opens the door for massive abuse by police. Another blatant example of corruption is the busway.
The governor of Jakarta insisted on this massive project without any concern for its impact on the roads, stating that the city needed it to relieve congestion. What color is the sky in his world? Not only has traffic in busway areas gotten worse, but most of the busway corridors are not even used!
Where is the KPK on this oversight and why don’t they investigate the governor and the city officials responsible for this sham? Lapindo is another case. An independent investigation clearly lays the blame for this man-made disaster on the Bakrie Group so where is the government investigation on this?
Seriously, how much louder can someone scream red flag until someone in the government listens? Well I suppose that’s where the problem is. No one wants to listen because to change things into a more orderly, less corrupt system takes away opportunities for those that feel they have the right to steal public money.
Until the President gets more serious about fighting corruption and doesn’t turn a blind eye to it, nothing changes. Penalties need to be harsher. Penalties need to affect not just the corrupt person but also their entire family.
Public humiliation and seizing of assets against a corrupt person are one thing, but the threat of throwing that person’s family out in the streets so that they suffer under the humiliation of enjoying life from stolen money would make a strong motivator in this country.
You would have to be fairly heartless to not care that your entire
family will suffer if you are caught stealing.
Arifin
Jakarta