Time has come to cure our ailing society<\/p>\n
By Rahayu Ratnaningsih<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The series of recent disasters befalling us
\nshould prompt us to ponder what has gone wrong with Indonesian
\nsociety.<\/p>\n
The Gurita ferry catastrophe in Aceh, the bus accident on the
\nBogor toll road, and the Bogor shopping center fire, all killed
\nmany people and are fresh in our minds.<\/p>\n
What is left to make us proud as Indonesians if ignorance,
\nnegligence, carelessness, indifference, indiscipline, corruption,
\nopportunism and selfishness feature so highly in our society?<\/p>\n
Indifference makes it impossible for us to walk safely and
\nconveniently on the sidewalks. In fact, sidewalks are considered
\nsuch an inappropriate luxury, the need of which is regarded as
\nsomething trivial, that they are transformed into markets.<\/p>\n
Only in Indonesia can traders occupy half a main road, such as
\nthose in Tangerang. Indifference continues until a catastrophe
\npricks our conscience, then it is soon wiped from our memory. The
\ncycle is then repeated. When another calamity happens the whole
\nnation will mourn and regard it as a national tragedy and
\nsubmissively say: "This is God's will."<\/p>\n
Like people from middle eastern countries, we are
\ncharacterized by our external locus of control. What happens to
\nus in life is due to luck or chance -- by takdir, our favorite
\nword which means fate.<\/p>\n
Research indicates that people with an external locus of
\ncontrol are less likely to take responsibility for the
\nconsequences of their own behavior and more likely to rely on
\nexternal influences. Internals, on the other hand, are more
\nlikely to rely on their own internal standards of right and wrong
\nto guide their behavior. Most developed and western countries
\nshare this particular trait.<\/p>\n
So everything tends to be seen as God's will, partly because
\nIndonesian people's religiosity requires our total submission to
\nGod by not questioning His power and authority.<\/p>\n
It is a worry because we are too ignorant and indifferent to
\nnotice that the human sacrifice in the series of accidents were
\nindeed unnecessary and could have been avoided if we had had a
\nlittle discipline and concern for public order and safety.<\/p>\n
How can we be concerned with other people's safety when we
\noften don't really cherish our own? Look at the people who sit on
\ntrains' roofs. They even walk along them when the trains are
\nrunning, oblivious to he real danger of being killed. No one
\nstops them from doing it, not even the railway officials. The
\nofficials perhaps have tried in the past without success.<\/p>\n
Not only the common people lack concern for their own or
\nother's safety. High government officials lack it too. Sewers
\nremain uncovered, posing a significant danger to pedestrians. We
\ndon't even bother to refill excavations made to install telephone
\ncables, making the roads traps for motorists.<\/p>\n
Casualties are uncountable, but the districts' mayors still
\nenjoy their morning coffee while reading their residents'
\ncomplaints in the newspaper. Seeking justice is futile.<\/p>\n
Being an Indonesian mayor is a piece of cake. Their
\ncounterparts in developed countries can easily be liable for
\nmillions of dollars if a citizen is injured, however slightly, by
\nfaulty workmanship in their district.<\/p>\n
Indifference is so prevalent here, that the leaders don't even
\naddress it. Many of our officials are corrupt and don't
\nunderstand the concept of leading by example.<\/p>\n
Our feudalistic and patriarchal culture is rooted so deeply
\nthat our leaders are often arrogant even when facts show they are
\nto blame for casualties.<\/p>\n
The Bogor mayor is a case in point. He was quoted on the
\nworsening traffic jams prior to the Pasar Anyar inferno as
\nsaying: "Sidewalk traders are to be expected. It's a perfectly
\nappropriate thing to occur."<\/p>\n
Then, after the recent shopping center fire, he insisted much
\ntoo early that because he was mayor people had to believe there
\nwere only ten human bodies and one cat found.<\/p>\n
The fire unveiled the sorry condition of our public
\nbuildings. It is now time to stop leniency towards safety
\nviolations. The same story repeats itself every time a fire
\nbreaks out: the fire squads fail to extinguish the blaze because
\nof the inadequacy of the built-in fire control devices.<\/p>\n
It isn't difficult to find those responsible, but again we
\nare too indifferent to make fuss about it. We are too forgiving
\nand too reserved to question. It shows once again the
\nopportunistic and corrupt mentality of our entrepreneurs and
\nofficials. Both are only interested in their own well being. Are
\nwe going to preserve this attitude or are we going to work things
\nout?<\/p>",
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