Safety net money abused

Safety net money abused

Once again this newspaper is devoting a column to the issue of
the misappropriation of social safety net money. Once again,
because the problem is being allowed to be forgotten, or to
evaporate, with no legal action ever being taken. Case upon case
has surfaced, only to be forgotten or left to mere gossip.

We know that there are many kinds of thieves. Some are big
fish, others are small, and there are also other species of
thieves. Their hands are dirty, their mouths hungry, their souls
evil.

Social safety net money is meant to help people so poor they
are dying. The money is available because of the efforts of
compassionate foreigners. This is the money (the thieves) are
stealing to be used for various purposes, including money
politics. They may be big fish or small fish, but whatever
species they belong to, they are bandits....

We are like a pond filled with contaminated water. In this
pond even the most robust, healthy and clean fishes get poisoned.
Our problem is not to replace the fish, but the water. Courage is
needed, and therefore reform is essential.

The current reform movement is a bottom-up movement,
spearheaded by students. Corruption, on the other hand, is a top-
down phenomenon. Experience, however, has shown that it cannot be
eradicated from the top down, because there are no longer any
clean fishes in our murky pond. We notice that precisely this
kind of bottom-up movement is at present being undertaken by a
number of nongovernmental organizations with increasing vitality.

These people are working methodically, with perseverance and
courage. If proof is what is needed, they can provide it. It is
important, therefore, that this contest be taken to a court of
justice so that it will be known who precisely is being
challenged.

Whatever the case, we feel optimistic because the capability
has been born (among us) to exert control on an increasing scale.
We feel justified to be optimistic because this is an indication
that a strong civil society is in the making.

So, whoever wins the upcoming general election, one task that
awaits them is clear. The murky water must be thrown out of our
pond and the sick fish replaced with others that are truly
healthy.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta