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.