If non-government organization people often perceived
\nthemselves or being perceived by the public perceived as clean
\nand honest persons, we should rethink the perception, since the
\narrest and detention of Mulyana W. Kusuma, a member of the
\nGeneral Elections Commission (KPU), in an alleged corruption
\ncase.<\/p>\n
He was appointed as one of National Election Commission (KPU)
\nsince three years ago. A criminologist, and a reputable human
\nrights activist from YLBHI (Indonesian Law Aid Foundation),
\nMulyana, also held a position of chairman in Indonesian Committee
\nfor Free and Fair Election (KIPP) back in the mid 1990s.<\/p>\n
KPU has a difficult and almost impossible task, to run a first
\ndirect election, that consists complicated system and operational
\nprocesses.<\/p>\n
The investigation on Mulyana is still going, it is not
\nappropriate to comment on the case, meanwhile the fact-finding
\nteam is still doing their job, and hopefully, in next few weeks,
\nthe mystery clouds Mulyana and other KPU members will soon
\nuncovered.<\/p>\n
Among NGO activists there are two different stand points in
\nlooking at Mulyana's case, whether Mulyana was victimized and
\nothers argued that Mulyana is innocent in this case. Other point
\nof view sees that Mulyana's case should be investigated
\ncarefully, and if Mulyana was proven try to bribe state auditor
\nofficer, he should be jailed as other corruptors.<\/p>\n
Are NGO people not immune from corruption?. Many NGO activists
\nprobably were clean in the past. But we should consider that
\npeople can really change their attitude, their behavior, due to
\nmany factors; economic and political interests, those are among
\nthe reason why NGO people change their behavior.<\/p>\n
As an activist ,I should admit that being NGO activist is not
\na glorious life, and sometimes many NGO activists see that NGO
\nsector is only a stepping stone to pursue a better life, whether
\njoin the bureaucracy or the private sector.<\/p>\n
It is very sad that an NGO activist like Mulyana was involved
\nin such case, a practice that has been long criticized by many
\nNGO activists. If Mulyana was found guilty in bribery and
\ncorruption attempt, it shames the NGO, and for fair, it also
\nreflects that \"money can buy anything\", and NGO activists often
\ncannot resist this temptation.<\/p>\n
Other reflection from this case is whether the role of NGO is
\nchanging in a changing economic and political situation in
\nIndonesia nowadays. How can NGO people really contribute their
\neffort to enrich, and to foster better situation in Indonesia?<\/p>\n
NGO activists alone cannot do much, because they really depend
\nof other stakeholders to cope with this hard situation. We must
\nadmit that NGO activists can only participate in some specific
\nissues, partial problems, and sometimes actions that have been
\ndone, just give a little impact to public.<\/p>\n
Most of NGO activists have their own idealistic type of
\ncondition they want to promote, and by doing so, they
\ncollaborated with other stakeholders, from funding agencies, with
\nspecific targeted community, together with some experts, and
\ngovernment agencies as well.<\/p>\n
Sometimes funding agencies -- both domestic and foreign --
\nhave their own preferences in particular issues to cope with, and
\nlocal NGOs sometimes become only an extension of agencies's
\ninterest. That's why most NGOs sometimes have to bargain, have to
\nnegotiate with funding agencies, so that two different interest
\ncan meet at one point.<\/p>\n
There are jokes about \"man of project\", where an activist is
\nlooking for projects to survive. From this project they can
\nensure sustainability of their institutions. But at the same,
\nthis attitude can erode their idealistic conception on how to
\nenrich and foster better situation in targeted community.<\/p>\n
Mulyana's case also reflects the phenomenon, that NGO
\nactivists are not immune in terms of corruption case, and NGO
\nlike other source of public officials recruits, have to have big
\nguts to stay clean in many public institutions.<\/p>\n
But we cannot jump into conclusion that all the NGO activist
\nalso pursue their economic benefit in running their
\norganizations. There are still many NGO activists were
\nconsistent with their idealistic conception of society, and to be
\nfair, we should also note that some of them also change their
\nideological position when the political system change.<\/p>\n
Slowly but sure, there are some elements in the NGO activist
\nthat tend to change their ideological position, and be part of
\nthe new government, or other state institutions, and lead their
\nway contradict with their former ideology.<\/p>\n
It is worthy to note that NGO activist face bigger challenge
\nwhen they enter the corrupt system. They alone, cannot fight
\nagainst corrupt system, but at least, they can show us on how
\nthey live properly and accordingly to what they struggle before.<\/p>\n
The writer is a researcher in Institute for Press and
\nDevelopment Studies (LSPP), Jakarta. He can be contacted through
\nignh@yahoo.com)<\/p>\n
3. Star--<\/p>\n
1 x 30<\/p>\n
;THE STAR;
\nANPAk..r..
\nMalaysia-higher-education
\nJP\/6\/Opinion page<\/p>\n
The onus is on higher education<\/p>\n
V.K. Chin
\nThe Star\/Asia News Network
\nSelangor<\/p>\n
The unemployed graduates issue has been publicly discussed for
\nmany years and, despite many attempts by both the government and
\nthe private sector, it is far from being resolved.<\/p>\n
One wonders how many more years will be required before the
\npublic universities and government-sponsored institutions can do
\nsomething to put this matter to rest.<\/p>\n
Once again, due to the many shortcomings, the Government has
\nto fork out tens of millions to continue with its training
\nprogram for unemployed graduates, including diploma and
\ncertificate holders, to assist them in finding jobs.<\/p>\n
Actually, once they have completed their university and
\ndiploma education, they should be able to look after themselves,
\nat least on paper. However, this is not happening and the
\nGovernment, via the Human Resources Ministry, has once again
\nstepped in.<\/p>\n
The program to help the trainees acquire knowledge in English,
\ncommunicative skills and information communications technology
\nhad produced satisfactory results; most of those who had
\nundergone the course were able to find work.<\/p>\n
However, the new batch of trainees will no longer get the
\nRM500 monthly allowance during the six-month course, which was
\nenjoyed by earlier groups.<\/p>\n
The allowance was to relieve them of the financial burden of
\nhaving to use their own money for their daily expenses such as
\ntransport, food and other incidentals.<\/p>\n
This allowance has been perceived as being too generous and
\nthe Government will be able to make a saving of RM3,000 per
\nparticipant in doing away with this additional expenditure.<\/p>\n
The savings should be used to provide more places for those in
\nneed of such training. This incentive could be abused as some
\nwere attending the course just for the pocket money.<\/p>\n
Some of the institutions offering the course could have abused
\nthis training scheme by inflating their enrollment figures and
\npocketing the additional funds allotted to them.<\/p>\n
With so many private institutions being involved, it is quite
\ndifficult for the ministry to monitor all their activities. Quite
\noften it would have to depend on the honesty of these operators.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, this will be the last training program for
\nunemployed graduates and diploma holders, as the Government
\ncannot be expected to keep on bankrolling such activities.<\/p>\n
This should be the responsibility of the public universities
\nand other institutions, which are given hundreds of millions a
\nyear to provide their students with the skills and knowledge to
\nplay a useful role in national development.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/if-non-government-organization-people-often-perceived-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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