Discipline begins at the top, Sudomo says
Discipline begins at the top, Sudomo says
JAKARTA (JP): The national campaign to strengthen discipline
will be launched by President Soeharto today and, officials and
experts say, it should be applied to everyone, especially those
in leadership positions.
The Chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council, Sudomo, said
that given the paternalistic character of Indonesian society, the
most effective way to instill discipline in people is to start
with the people at the top.
If leaders are not disciplined, they will set a bad example
for their subordinates, Sudomo was quoted by Antara news agency
as saying. "This will make it impossible to establish proper
discipline."
The campaign, which is being inaugurated in commemoration of
National Awakening Day today, will focus on queuing, hygiene and
punctuality.
On a separate occasion, Golkar chairman Harmoko stressed that
the campaign should be equally applied to civil servants.
"Golkar fully supports the campaign for national discipline
because it is also targeted at the state apparatus," he told
Antara yesterday.
"This means that every government employee should act in
accordance with existing regulations. This will also strengthen
the credibility of the government," said Harmoko, who is also the
Minister of Information.
He added that a civil servant is an employee of the state and
therefore of the people. They should serve the people and not ask
to be served.
J. Riberu, a member of the House of Representatives for the
ruling Golkar faction, argued that discipline has to do with
proper enforcement of the law, something which is still lacking
in this country. "The level of discipline in a nation depends to
a large extent on how the people respect their laws."
He noted that violations and abuses of the law are often
committed by people at the top, usually government officials.
"An official who is asking for special treatment, in the sense
that he be exempted from the laws by which others must abide, is
encouraging others to disregard the law," he said.
R. Soeprapto, chairman of BP-7, the government agency which
runs the ideological Pancasila course, said people in Indonesia
tend to spare important people, say a minister, from certain
inconveniences, like having to queue.
Normal, law-abiding citizens duly step aside and the minister
thus takes his position for granted. "Everyone sees this as
normal," he told Antara.
"These kinds of things would not happen in a democratic
country. Everyone, including officials, must queue up."
Such an attitude of special treatment for privileged people is
widespread in everyday life. Unfortunately, he said, unless this
is changed, it will undermine the discipline campaign.
Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman, who heads the campaign arranged by 14
ministers, said on Wednesday that discipline should be observed
by everyone without any exception.
He did not say how the discipline campaign will be enforced
and monitored but stressed it will not take on any military
shadings.
Soesilo said impatient motorists will be among the targets,
singling out the toll road users that frequently resort to the
shoulder to overtake other cars.
Queuing will also be encouraged in public places, he said.
The cleanliness campaign will promote the use of litter boxes
while the punctuality campaign is chiefly to encourage people to
turn up for work on time.
"The discipline campaign does not mean that the Indonesian
people are rotten," Soesilo said.
"But there is a need to strengthen the people's discipline,"
he said, adding that people in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia
are much more disciplined. (emb)