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If the watchman is restrained, investors flee
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo frequently says he wants funds from foreigners to help boost the economy. So who to dial should a joint venture turn to custard through corruption?
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo meets with executives of South Korean automaker Hyundai at the Merdeka Palace. The government plans to implement a bold reform agenda to attract foreign investment amid fierce competition from neighboring countries. (Courtesy of Presidential Office/-)
A
n Indonesian friend involved in a messy divorce was advised by colleagues not to hire a lawyer. Instead he should bribe the judge more than his estranged wife was paying.
Being a moral person he refused, believing it’s every citizen’s duty to help purge corruption from the nation. He paid an attorney and lost his case.
A local personal pain but one indicating a national ill making investors quake. Surreptitiously sliding an envelope across a desk anywhere in the archipelago is risky business for Australians — home and away.
Bribing a public official is a crime here in the republic and over there in the Commonwealth; the dirty deal may have been done any place between Sabang and Merauke but a prosecution can be launched anywhere between Perth and Sydney.
The penalties are harsh: Up to 10 years in an Aussie prison, or a fine of A$1.78 million (US$1.20 million) — or both. Drug runners get less.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo frequently says he wants funds from foreigners to help boost the economy. So who to dial should a joint venture turn to custard through corruption?
Not the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) if its authority gets weakened by lawmakers. Even if the proposers deny changes will neuter the commission’s powers, the view from afar is likely to be negative. As the seers say, perception is reality.
