The other side of corruption

The issue of corruption has become the "prima donna" in almost all newspapers in the past few days. Every day an article on corruption is published, looking at the phenomenon from different angles.

Corruption is a very interesting subject to write about as there are several factors which lead to corruption; as a consequence the therapy is also very complex. The Attorney General said that corruption is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and thus can only be tackled in a multi-dimensional way.

Another factor which makes corruption a popular subject is that you can write about almost anything as the cause of this disease and propose many steps as the therapy, and nobody can say you are wrong precisely because it is such a complex subject.

The urge to write about corruption stems from the election campaign when all participating parties condemned corruption and promised to fight this social disease. All parties agreed that corruption cannot be eradicated, but only minimized. Like illness, corruption will always be with us.

If we do not act quickly and resolutely, corruption will be deeply rooted and there will be the feeling that corruption is accepted as part of our life. Later, people will try to find an excuse for corruption and then justify it. Many observers believe that corruption has become part of the Indonesian culture. Some even went so far as to suggest that the fight against corruption should be slowed down because it would help to establish a strong middle class which can become the backbone of stability.

Professor Nathaniel said that corruption can introduce an element of competition in what is otherwise a comfortably monopolistic industry. Lots of discussions have been held to find out whether corruption has slowed down development.

Yet some people say that corruption improves efficiency of the bureaucracy and speeds up decision-making and execution of regulations.

The result of a poll in Los Angeles reveals that bribery is the lubricating oil of business. Making peace with the traffic police in the street, is much cheaper than in a court session.

Handing over a thick envelope to the right official will smooth the way and get things moving, while if we do not do that everything is done according to the regulations, which takes a long time. For a businessman time is money.

You will be surprised how a thick envelope can work wonders in your business deal and make everybody happy. The businessman is happy because his imported goods are cleared quickly from the customs; the officials are happy because they can take good care of their family and save up for their old age; the people are happy because they can get what they need in the market.

In the Old Order era, I tried to point out that corruption took a very serious turn and could do harm to our country. I reported this to the First Deputy Prime Minister, but his reaction was not what I had expected. He said: "You know that the government cannot pay our employees enough, so we should be happy that they can take care of themselves one way or the other".

Don't get me wrong. I am against corruption, but I only want to point out the other side of corruption to avoid stress and high blood pressure. There are always two sides to a coin, and I am showing you the other side.

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta