Don't try to steal bananas<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, korpur@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
If you decide to become a thief, or if you already are one,
\nplease take this advice: don't be a mere banana thief like
\nSudarno. Instead, steal as much as you can from the state
\ncoffers, as the cronies of former president Soeharto allegedly
\ndid, because the more cash stolen, the less appetite the
\nauthorities will have for jailing you.<\/p>\n
That was the message one received watching two news reports on
\nSCTV TV on Monday.<\/p>\n
One report was about Sudarno, now in police custody after
\nbeing caught stealing some bananas from his neighbor in East
\nLampung. Sudarno allegedly tried to steal a bunch of bananas to
\nfeed his two starving children and granddaughter. The Lampung
\nPolice spokeswoman vowed that Sudarno would be brought to
\njustice, although the owner of the fruit had forgiven him and
\ndespite the fact that this spokeswoman acknowledged that
\nSudarno's family was facing starvation.<\/p>\n
Another report was on the wholehearted support Attorney
\nGeneral M.A. Rachman received from House of Representatives
\nCommission II for his decision to drop corruption charges against
\ntimber tycoon Prajogo Pangestu and Soeharto's eldest daughter,
\nSiti \"Tutut\" Hardiyanti Rukmana.<\/p>\n
The House also showed its understanding about Rachman's
\nreluctance to locate convicted banker Samadikun, who fled after
\nbeing sentenced to four years in prison. The legislators are more
\nparanoid about the ghost of communism than the real threat of
\ncorruptors.<\/p>\n
A former director of a state-owned company recently disclosed
\nhis formula for escaping corruption charges. \"Fill their bellies,
\nin my case those of the police and prosecutors. As you can see, I
\nam free,\" the man declared proudly. Of course, he is not alone.<\/p>\n
Based on simple observation, alleged corruptors known for
\ntheir generosity when still in power have a better chance of
\navoiding the watchful eyes of the police and the state
\nprosecutor's office. Many believe Soeharto crony Mohamad \"Bob\"
\nHasan is now in prison not because of his mega-scale corruption,
\nbut because he was stingy and did not like to distribute his
\nwealth to other people.<\/p>\n
As an attorney general, Rachman is no doubt full of empathy
\nfor corruptors and robbers of state money; after all, one of his
\nassociates accused him of corruption. Fortunately, President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's wisdom saved him from a humiliating
\nfall.<\/p>\n
Rachman can share the trauma of this experience with one of
\nhis predecessors, A.M. Ghalib. The Indonesian Corruption Watch
\ndisclosed its findings on Ghalib's alleged corruption when he was
\nin Switzerland to investigate a report by Time magazine on the
\ntransfer of US$9 billion allegedly belonging to the Soeharto
\nfamily from a bank in Switzerland to an Austrian bank. Ghalib
\nlost his job.<\/p>\n
A chicken thief often receives a heavier sentence than a
\ncorruptor, and we more often hear about the acquittal of
\ncorruptors than of a chicken thief.<\/p>\n
That is why lawyers are now more prestigious than medical
\ndoctors, engineers or accountants. Their services are urgently
\nneeded by those targeted in corruption investigations. And don't
\nthink that their clients just need their legal knowledge; a good
\nlawyer for them is a person who can get all the charges against
\nthem dropped by any means necessary.<\/p>\n
All of Soeharto's successors -- B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman
\nWahid and Megawati -- boasted that they would eradicate
\ncorruption at any cost. But talk to businesspeople and many of
\nthem will tell you that corruption under Soeharto was more
\ncentralized. Once you reached a deal with one of his six children
\nor cronies, your project could go forward with no more problems.
\nYou were also untouchable if you had connections to the then
\nfirst family.<\/p>\n
These rules have been forgotten now! Now everybody wants to
\nsteal the money. Not surprisingly, a local official will no
\nlonger help you even if you describe in length your close ties
\nwith President Megawati or her family.<\/p>\n
Indonesians also are very tolerant about corruption. We often
\nfeel confused when told that we do not need to pay to renew our
\nID cards. Many churches and mosques receive huge donations from
\npeople whose salaries are much lower than their donations. And
\nthere is no lottery in this country. But rarely are donors asked
\nto prove the legitimacy of their donations. They are even praised
\nas \"humble servants of God\" and their generosity is expected to
\nbe followed by others, regardless of how they got the money.<\/p>\n
Sudarno is only a banana thief. The judges in his trial will
\nact as representatives of God when they issue their verdict
\nagainst this poor farmer. Misery awaits Sudarno should the judges
\nconclude that the farmer should be sent to prison. Why? Because
\nhere, the only banana thief that people tolerate is a monkey.<\/p>",
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