Farewell to a sincere man

Farewell to a sincere man

The outgoing Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has tried to
prove that there is still at least one person here who dares to
say no to a prestigious position.

After governing the capital city for five years, with
impressive success stories, he has chosen not to run for
reelection although he -- as millions of people here must be
convinced -- would be selected again without any problem.

His decision is a rare example, if not an unnatural one, for a
country where bureaucrats rule supreme.

What we have heard for decades here is that public or
nonpublic figures impulsively accepted any offer for a big public
post, often on the basis of poor logic. They justify their
appointment with a cliche statement: "As a citizen I will accept
it."

What sounds comical is that the people concerned neither feel
they have a moral obligation to explain the reasons for accepting
nor want to elaborate on their plan to boost their status.

Many believe such an idea is still unthinkable in today's
environment where many people view such an offer as pay dirt.

But Surjadi has, since his appointment as governor, realized
Jakarta is too big and too complicated for him. Yet he accepted
the challenge because sincerity itself can yield results.

He did his best amid a plethora of interests from outsiders
who wanted a share in the fast growing city. He has not gone
public with his own complaints about this complication but his
subordinates have repeatedly been heard to say that there are too
many governors here.

Despite his success in efforts to boost the economy, decrease
the unemployment rate, curb the influx of rural people and boost
welfare, he has had to admit that he was powerless to fight
corruption within the city administration -- especially in the
agencies in charge of issuing licenses -- to overcome traffic
woes.

Despite his vigorous struggle to clean up the administration,
he also seems to have had little success in combating nepotism
among high-ranking officials.

Corruption is not just a urban issue but also a national
dilemma. Decades ago our founding vice president Mohammad Hatta
said it had become part of our culture.

Fighting for a clean government -- which was a slogan during
the last general election for one political contestant -- is
almost impossible because the question now is: "Who is cleaning
up whom?"

And nobody has cared to think about who will help the public,
who find themselves at a loss about how to protect themselves
from corrupt officials.

The traffic problem was another perplexing issue for Surjadi
because of the government's inability to build more
infrastructure to curb the growing number of vehicles. Jakarta
has more than two millions vehicles compared to only 5,900
kilometers of road.

Another headache for the governor was the arrival every year
of hundreds of thousands of newcomers from the provinces. These
people believe the capital city is where they can get rich but it
may only provide a chance to keep their heads above water.

It is now the job of the new governor to solve the problems
Surjadi did not succeed in ironing out.

The new Jakarta governor will also find that the city
administration is a gigantic machine run by some experts but many
unskilled and insincere people.

Although Surjadi has left the city administration with its
lower apparatus still lacking, he will be remembered as a
committed, modest, consistent and sincere governor who believed
that the job not only tested one's capability but also one's
integrity.