Most corrupt in Asia
One is tempted to dismiss the headline story in yesterday's paper proclaiming Indonesia as the most corrupt country in Asia. The Asian Intelligence survey report by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC), upon which the article was based, contains some weaknesses that raise questions about its validity.
For starters, the report was based on a survey covering only 12 countries in Asia, and excluded such countries as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The sample of respondents, 280 business expatriates in the region, is questionable. The method, requesting respondents to rate each country on a scale of zero (for cleanest) to 10 (most corrupt), is highly subjective and subject to error. It is no wonder that some politicians here were quick to accuse the Hong Kong consultancy firm yesterday of ulterior business motives in publishing the survey.
The report is far from flattering for Indonesia. It flies in the face of our endless rhetorics about wiping out corruption. According to the report, Indonesia has the worst score of more than 8.0. In order of cleanest to most corrupt, Singapore came top in the survey, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, China, India and lastly, Indonesia.
Putting aside our objections to the survey's methods, it is still not comforting to find that Indonesia came behind China, Vietnam and India -- three countries with lower per capita income than ours. Higher income apparently is no guarantee of less corruption. That South Korea was rated eighth confirms this assertion. It destroys the widely held assumption, or rather expectation, that corruption ebbs as prosperity increases. This is something to think about as our nation becomes more prosperous with development.
The survey's timing apparently affected its conclusions. The controversy over the Busang gold mining project (before it became known that the gold claim was overstated) was highlighted in the report as an illustration of nepotism -- one form of corruption -- at play. South Korea's image was destroyed by the Hanbo Steel Co financial scandal. But Indonesia has rarely been free of controversies that condemn us as being corrupt. Last year, we had the year-long national car saga that was just as contentious as Busang. If it is any consolation to us, the report says corruption is growing everywhere in the region. At least we know we are not alone.
We may not like being labeled the worst in the region, but no one, not even the most patriotic among us, could say with confidence that this country does not have a problem with corruption. Corruption is not only rife and deeply rooted in Indonesia, but it has become accepted by many people as a fact of life. In fact, there is growing apathy in this country about the problem. We need not look too far in the past. Last month, a frank admission by the head of the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps that money, rather than skill, talked louder in the recruitment process of government workers generated little public interest. Reports of corruption at best only draw a cursory glance from politicians nowadays. The only time they react is when accusations come from outsiders, then they defend the nation's honor and pride.
The PERC report begs us to act, not to dismiss it as nonsense because of the weaknesses of the survey, but to do something about corruption in this country. The vote of no-confidence by the business expatriates, who are potential investors, should be heard. Since we appear to have become insensitive to our own conscience, the PERC's conclusions should be seen as a welcome reminder that this country has a major problem that needs to be dealt with urgently.