Most corrupt in Asia

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.