E

ven without a letter questioning President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s commitment to the fight against corruption (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 20, 2011), the public, and also perhaps the government, have long been aware of the grave danger of corruption.

When asked about corruption, Indonesians will point out how government and non-government institutions are mired in it.

The following is among the better known examples of small-scale corruption. You come to an office. A member of staff welcomes you, explaining the procedure to get something done, but the procedure sounds so complicated. Upon seeing your confusion and despair, a gratuity is suggested.

Alternatively you look for a “middle man” who can perhaps help you. In spite of a big board standing beside the front desk warning “Do not use the service of brokers”, a middle man is always available in the back. This, like so much else in this country, seems paradoxical.

There are many well known forms of large-scale corruption: manipulation, marking up, money laundering, making fake reports, counterfeit factories, etc.

Is it possible to find anywhere free from corruption?

The phantom of corruption haunts streets, offices, soccer fields, forests, seas, rivers, bridges, airports, bus terminals, train stations, schools and universities, even the very air, soil, and water.

Is it possible to imagine a time free from corruption?

Like rats, corruptors never stop; stealing public money from Monday to Sunday, from January to December, including the Independence Day anniversary, Ramadhan, Idul Fitri, Christmas, Nyepi, and other holy days.

Corruption is a public secret! This sounds like an absurd thing to say, but you understand it anyway.

Just look at public services, from the lowest level of administration in villages around the country to central government. You will bear witness to this ferocious cancer eating at the whole body.

Corruption is public knowledge and it is a shame, and because we know we are ashamed, but how to handle it? Nobody so far can give us a proper answer. The danger has long been known, but as yet government and society have shown no serious commitment.

If one encounters difficulties with some form of administration, just spend few more rupiah. All will run smoothly.

During the New Order under Soeharto’s smiling military rule, the word corruption — along with democracy, succession, criticism, opposition, and other dangerous words — was taboo.

Those who dared to utter it in public faced the government’s wrath. From Sri Bintang Pamungkas (who was forever being watched and jailed by the government) to Amien Rais (who was lucky to come on to the political stage at the right time and place, as Soeharto failed to silence him), corruption was unmentionable in public, but now the taboo has gone.

When asked not to touch something dangerous, a child’s curiosity increases, and eventually the child touches it. Pamungkas and Amien, with other intellectuals and students, touched the subject of corruption. In the words of Amien, “Rid the government of KKN (corruption, collusion, and nepotism).”

Sadly the phrase KKN is worthless in the reformation era. Corrupt practices and issues turned out to be a much more complicated business; we still do not have successful enforcement of justice and law.

However, the people of the post-reformation era, unlike during Soeharto’s time, are brave in speaking out. They have no fear of being arrested by the government. The media covers corruption on a daily basis. What else should we talk about?

On the other hand, the meaning of the term corruption has been twisted in the public mind. Corruption has already become a joke.

To explain this, there is an anecdote. During Soeharto’s era, the corrupt politicians or bureaucrats made their transactions under the table — they did not want the public to see what they were doing.

Shortly after the reformation movement, the corruptors negotiated deals on the table — meaning they had no need to hide their corruption. Long after reformation, they compete against each other to take everything including the table. Nothing is left.

The cases of Gayus H. Tambunan, crocodile versus gecko, Melinda Dee, the murder of Nasruddin and other cases, the saga of former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, sparked abundant jokes and anecdotes. People were curious to follow the news related to Nazaruddin just for fun.

Just as Gayus wearing a funny wig worn during his excursion from jail to watch a tennis tournament in Bali drew our attention, so Nazaruddin’s bizarre hat during a TV interview also became a hot issue. What kind of hat was it? What was the song which played as the soundtrack of the interview?

The trillions of rupiah involving Gayus, Melinda Dee and Nazaruddin also caught the media’s attention. TVs, radios, and newspapers covered the huge amounts of money nonstop. The audiences could imagine those huge sums of money in their hands. What would you do with money like that?

Indeed, Gayus, Melinda and Nazaruddin’s lifestyles made good entertainment.

How many luxurious cars did Melinda purchase? How many times did Melinda have plastic surgery? How much money did Gayus spend to go to Singapore and Bali? How many fake companies did Nazaruddin set up? Do you know how much the private plane which brought Nazaruddin back home from Columbia cost?

These three are young and rich. No matter how they achieved it, money flowed instantly in their hands and now they are famous.

Do you want to know more about them? So do I.

The writer is a lecturer at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta.