Editorial

Editorial

As the drama unfolds

Observing how reports on the background of the Bapindo credit
scam, undoubtedly the biggest financial scandal in Indonesia in
the last decade, unfold, is now perhaps the most popular pastime
for many Indonesians. It has all the necessary ingredients to be
a highly packed suspenseful drama.

The key players are noted persons. The sum involved is a huge
Rp 1.7 trillion. A well known international detective agency has
been retained to track the missing funds. And the political
implications and the possibility that more prominent people may
be involved in the scandal keeps people wondering what will
happen next.

And piece by piece, bit by bit, amid slowly gathering but
mounting tension, the media (possibly with the help of
"insiders") is vigorously unraveling the mystery. Sadly, this
saga also has revealed the murky dark side of our administration:
the poor quality of our banking management and supervision, the
abuse of power among certain high ranking officials, and of greed
and lust for money and influence.

Still, despite President Soeharto's order to the attorney
general to thoroughly investigate the scandal, many people here
are pessimistic that the true story will be publicly known and
doubt that the real culprits will ever be apprehended. Short of
saying that there is a cover up in the scandal, many believe that
in the end an Indonesian solution will prevail: A few heads will
possibly roll, but certain "strong" people will be kept out of
justice's reach.

Many believe that Adrianus Mooy, who served as governor of the
central bank until March of last year, and who was allegedly
involved in the scandal, will escape the dragnet. Although his
statement the other day that he was unaware of the Bapindo
problem while he still headed Bank Indonesia, may sound weak, he
has been virtually cleared of involvement in the scandal because
he has passed through President Soeharto's personal scrutiny.

Nevertheless, Mooy's statement has drawn criticism. Many say
that Mooy's excuse shows how poor his performance was since one
of the main tasks of Bank Indonesia is to supervise the banking
apparatus. How could such a huge loan escape his scrutiny?
Moreover, Mooy's failure to mention his other former position as
the chairman of the Bapindo Supervisory Board, while he was
concurrently governor of the central bank, has raised more
questions.

Mooy's chapter in this saga has added more spice to the
Bapindo story. It has also added new fuel to the ongoing public
debate on the case. We do not know what will happen next, but
while waiting for the coming scenes of this drama to unfold, one
can detect several factors.

First, there is a stronger demand from the public for honest
governance. What has been revealed from the Bapindo scandal thus
far is, perhaps, only the tip of an iceberg. Yet it is sufficient
to gauge how deeply this country has fallen into the practice of
collusion between the business circles and the bureaucracy.

Second, it is obvious that there is a huge gap in norms and
values between the older and the younger generation, for instance
in the meaning of personal responsibility and administrative
accountability. The older generation tends to think that "a
fighter should fight to the end." To resign or to retire from
duty is looked down upon since it is considered a cowardly
action.

On the contrary, the new generation considers resignation as a
kind of responsibility and a form of administrative
accountability. This may explain why scores of students have been
demonstrating to demand the resignations of certain officials.

Although this battle between the old and the new values is
still raging, we have no doubt which side will win.