More new bodies?

In the last few days I have got the impression that we are entering a creative period, which is not always a good sign. The problem of fighting corruption crops up and one of the proposals is to create a new body to fight corruption.

Several months ago, law experts were not very satisfied with the condition of the existing law system which was inherited from the Dutch. To overcome this problem people proposed that a new ministry be created to monitor the law.

A few days ago there was a seminar on foreign policy. At the discussion, one of the speakers proposed the creation of a new body to tackle foreign policy. And so it goes on and on.

Minister of Administrative Reforms T.B. Silalahi remarked that if we go on like this, in no time we will have 200 ministries. Remember we had 100 ministers during the Old Order period!

Why are we looking to create new bodies to overcome problems instead of improving the quality of the existing ones.

Perhaps these learned gentlemen are influenced by the English and the saying: "the more the merrier." In this case I am thinking of the Dutch saying Niet het vele is goed, maar het goede is veel (Not the quantity that matters but the quality that counts).

You want more information? No problem, because we have the press which have eyes and ears everywhere and courageously report all kinds of malpractice in government agencies.

If this is not enough you can turn to the House of Representatives. In fact the corruption of Eddy Tansil and Bapindo came to light because of a report from the House. If you still want more, then ask for the help of the existing intelligence organizations of the Armed Forces and the NGOs and many more.

So we already have enough bodies to which we can turn for information. And with regard to foreign policy we have enough bodies also. We have our foreign office staffed with experienced officials. Of course this foreign office must cooperate with other institutions.

Then we have a coordinating minister for political affairs and security. There are regular cabinet meetings, there are hearings with the House and we have ambassadors abroad. So what is the sense of creating new bodies which only add to the existing confusion.

What we need to do is improve the quality of these bodies instead of creating new ones. We should act professionally, based on love and a feeling of responsibility toward our country.

Do not work with thoughts of how much profit you can get out of it. Act on the principle of what you can do for your country, not what your country can do for you.

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta