God's role in our anti-corruption war

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post

Each of three of our director generals has his own way of responding to criticism on corruption and poor-governance practices in their offices.

From putting the case into God's hands, to asking the public to refrain from bribery, to threatening to sue accusers who are unable to come up with proof.

Which course is the most threatening? Which one could actually work?

The Ministry of Trade's director general of domestic trade Ardiansyah Parman's method of defending his ministry against critics sparked laughter from retail businesspeople last Monday.

Nevertheless, his reply was a fundamental one, particularly for the devout.

When the trade official mentioned God, the businesspeople who were attending a seminar sniggered among themselves. Is there something wrong with being religious?

When responding to criticism against his ministry's poor performance in protecting small-scale retailers against giant retailers, such as Carrefour, Ardiansyah insisted that the government had done everything in its power to ensure fair business practices, including the provision of laws and government regulations. A participant alleged that Minister of Trade Mari Pangestu had no interest in helping small-scale retailers.

The senior official told his critics they had no business evaluating the results of his ministry's hard work, arguing that, "Judging the results is the territory of God".

As having a religion is required in Indonesia -- though unfortunately the Ministry of Religious Affairs is one of the most corrupt ministries here -- all Indonesians are expected to follow Ardiansyah's advice.

Meanwhile, Director General of Customs and Excise Eddy Abdurrahman offers a much more effective -- according to him -- way of combating corruption: Stop bribing his officials.

In responding to the findings of the World Bank and the University of Indonesia's Institute for Economic and Social Research -- that last year alone importers had to pay about Rp 7 trillion (US$800 million) in illegal fees to Eddy's officials -- he simply asked importers, "to refuse (to give money) if asked by customs and excise officials".

According to Chatib Basri from the University of Indonesia, the survey was based on fact and not perception.

"Report to me directly, where, when it (extortion) happened and what is the case," Eddy boasted.

If you have trouble putting your faith in Eddy, dial his number; though naturally it would be nothing short of a miracle if he personally picked up the phone.

Expressing doubts over the accuracy of the survey results, which were announced on Friday, Eddy warned that the director general of tax had once come up against a similar case. Eddy is clearly more merciful to critics than his colleague at the tax office.

In April, outspoken economist, former coordinating minister for the economy, and former state minister of national development planning Kwik Kian Gie was forced to put an open apology in Kompas daily to the director general of tax for failing to prove his allegation that corruption was rampant in the tax office. Kwik's allegation had been printed by Kompas.

"Therefore, through this advertisement, I, Kwik Kian Gie, convey my apologies to the directorate general of tax. It is an error that will not be repeated," Kwik wrote.

It is regrettable that Kwik did not cite former People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais' description of corruption in the advertisement. "Corruption is like a fart, you can smell it, but cannot see it."

Millions of people would stand up and applaud if the tax director general, Hadi Purnomo, proved Kwik to be wrong by presenting evidence that his office is corruption-free and that all office employees depend on their salaries as civil servants alone. And that none of those employees have cars, savings or houses, the value of which is much higher than their official income.

Among the three, who takes a more humane approach in responding to criticism: Ardiansyah, Eddy or Hadi?

Ardiansyah's way seems simple, but how should we access God's judgment, through the Ministry of Religious Affairs? Wouldn't the ministry officials tamper with God's message? At any rate, at least Ardiansyah's way is a peaceful one. Eddy's appeal not to bribe his officials is certainly amusing, and helps us to make peace with the extorters. For your own peace of mind, better to take his advice with a grain of salt.

And how about Hadi's way of dealing with Kwik? Kwik knows the best answer to this question.