'Failure to queue related to corruption'<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Queuing and corruption are two different things. But they are
\nclosely related.<\/p>\n
The reluctance to line up in Indonesia provides a fertile
\nbreeding ground for corruption, collusion, and nepotism in
\nsociety, say sociologists.<\/p>\n
Ery Seda from the University of Indonesia in Jakarta and
\nHotman Siahaan from Surabaya's Airlangga University, both agreed
\nin separate interviews with The Jakarta Post that people's
\nunwillingness to queue was a major problem.<\/p>\n
Not only did it reflect people's failure to respect the rights
\nof the others, it also partly explained why corruption was
\nrampant here.<\/p>\n
Ery said that the public's tendency to break the line had much
\nto do with primitive feelings and the sense of \"togetherness\"
\namong people of the same race, religion and ethnic group,
\nfeelings which still played a dominant role in society.<\/p>\n
People sometimes felt uncomfortable if they did not give
\nprivileges or priority to those who had close communal ties with
\nthem, she said. And to get such privileges, many people would not
\nhesitate to set aside the interests of others.<\/p>\n
In the case of lining up, they would just break the line
\nbecause they felt they had the right to a privilege.<\/p>\n
\"Such feelings provide fertile ground for corruption,
\ncollusion, and nepotism,\" Ery said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Hotman said that the public's inability to queue
\nwas deeply rooted in certain norms of traditional Indonesian
\nculture, norms which were highly detrimental to society.<\/p>\n
\"Our society has no tradition of respecting other people's
\nrights,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The selfish desire to enjoy a privilege at the expense of
\nothers, like the tradition of presenting upeti (gifts) to the
\nruler, for example, could be behind the current practice of
\njumping the queue.<\/p>\n
In modern society, according to Ery, even though breaking the
\nline is harmful to others, people were not ashamed to do so as
\nthere was no social stigma involved.<\/p>\n
They enjoyed the safety by hiding behind the mask of
\nanonymity.<\/p>\n
\"They don't know each other so they can do what they like even
\nif it is harmful to other people, without fear of any social
\nsanction,\" Ery said.<\/p>\n
The lack of legal sanctions also meant that it was difficult
\nto force people to queue up, she added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/failure-to-queue-related-to-corruption-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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