Looking for the cause

National leaders of various religions in the country voiced their concerns on Wednesday of the prevailing moral crisis. After a two-hour meeting at the headquarters of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim educational organization, in Jakarta, the leaders were said to have agreed on the creation of a working committee to address "acute moral illnesses afflicting the society."

"We shared our concerns in the meeting and agreed that the nation is heading for all-out moral destruction," announced NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi after the gathering. However, how the committee would work and in what field it would operate was not disclosed to the press.

The vow was welcomed in many circles but was also criticized by some others. Dr. Din Syamsuddin, one of the top leaders of Muhammadiyah, the country's modernist organization, said the meeting itself was very positive and showed that there was national reconciliation. But he said that the statement saying that the nation is heading towards all-out moral destruction had over-dramatized the real situation. Din said the statement could create a deterioration of the real situation because it could lead to a psychology of anxiety among the public.

Many believe that the current moral decadence is a result of the destructive life under two dictators, presidents Sukarno and Soeharto. Many parties and political leaders who supported Sukarno, survived and worked under Soeharto -- except those banned by the dictator in 1960. And supporters of Soeharto's New Order regime are still fooling around today as the executives had been set aside but not completely ousted through a total revolution.

Each of the two regimes had its own educational system, which included a political system. Both despots monopolized the interpretation of the state ideology, called Pancasila, and the indoctrination of all the people, from primary school to university, was similar to communist-style brain washing. They did not improve the mentality of the people but confused the population.

That is why, from 1959 until now, it has been very hard to find good examples from political leaders. Under Sukarno his supporters were free to do anything against the people as long as they supported his system -- the fanatical cooperation between the Nationalists, the Religious (Muslims) and the Communists -- which was a pillar of his Guided Democracy. And under Soeharto, corruption was not a breach of the people's trust as long as one supported his reelection every fifth year.

Today the style is different. There is hardly any political leader who sets a good example of moral responsibility. If he or she fails to carry out a job and then resigns, the problems he or she created are not necessarily solved by quitting.

So, the minister of transportation is at peace despite a series of fatal train crashes recently. In the New Order regime, vice president Try Sutrisno said resigning, as a way to express moral responsibility, was not the Indonesian way. That way is not so clear however, because even in the 1940s, three-time prime minister Sutan Sjahrir resigned to express such responsibility.

Another example of the absence of responsibility can be seen in the President's recent campaign of stressing that politicians and civil servants lead a modest life. The campaign has only managed to make some ministers change their clothes sometimes but not to change the view of the legislator's parking lot which looks like a car show for highly luxurious automobiles.

And the moral decay has not affected only the politicians but also those who wield the banner of religion. A group of "religious people" sent their followers into the streets of East Java last year to set fire to churches and Muhammadiyah schools just because their supreme leader in Jakarta was ousted by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Political statements can be an ironic comedy, sometimes.