We need to learn from Iswandi case, says psychologist

We need to learn from Iswandi case, says psychologist

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Some people who lose their jobs can become changed persons
overnight; some go on with their new lives after being dismissed
from work, but others might change dramatically.

In his neighborhood in Kampung Gagak, Semanan subdistrict,
West Jakarta, Iswandi, 31, was widely regarded as a good father
to his two children and a responsible breadwinner, who was never
seen hanging out late at night like his friends.

It came as shock when the neighbors watched him being arrested
on TV this past Monday. He was arrested for setting fire to his
office building in Harmoni Plaza, Central Jakarta. The fire
killed three of his former colleagues and injured six others.

"I could not believe when I heard that he burned his office.
He never made trouble here. What made him so angry?" said a close
neighbor, Nur Ali, 45.

Being employed as a driver for PT Panca Kusuma, a chemical
materials company, since early September, was the first job with
a steady income for Iswandi. Previously, he earned his living by
driving a van for a short time and also as an ojek (motorcycle
taxi) driver.

On Oct. 13, according to his mother-in-law Zilfiah, Iswandi
came home and told the family that he had accidentally lost Rp
600,000 (some US$60) of the company's money that he had collected
from clients.

He had reported the missing money and promised to pay it back
because or his employer would report him to the police. The
employer had held his ID card and driver's license as collateral.

He borrowed some money from his parents and neighbors until he
had the Rp 600,000 and handed the money to his employer on
Monday. He also was under the mistaken impression that they let
him stay on the job.

Iswandi, however, was fired.

Noted social psychologist Sartono Mukadis said the Iswandi
case was an example of people who take the fatalistic approach in
trying to resolve their problems, while feeling that they were
victims of injustice.

"It is the same mental condition with people who burn and
torture suspected petty criminals and those who commit suicide,"
he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Sartono analyzed that such fatalistic thinking is a product of
authoritarian education, which is standard in nearly all schools
in the country. He explained that there are many teachers who are
simply unable to allow their students to debate points that the
teacher makes.

Therefore, he said, in the case of labor disputes, human
resource officers had to try to resolve the differences through
dialog and workers should always be given alternatives.

"Although I cannot tolerate the crime committed by Iswandi,
the human resource people must look at the incident as a good
lesson. Such an incident occurs when people are under a lot of
pressure and they think that they have no alternatives," said
Sartono, who is also the director of Persodata Human Resources
Consultancy.

Iswandi is now in police detention and dozens of other people
now must live with the grief he caused by taking away or injuring
their friends and relatives.

His wife Yessi, their four-year-old daughter Bella and six-
month old son Ilham have had to move out of their neighborhood
and now live with Yessi's parents.