Many opinions have been made by Australian public especially following the Corby’s case, about its neighbour. Frequently we heard that Indonesia is a corrupt and uncivilised country. This reference has been made at times to include all of its people, the government, the legislative bodies and the judiciary systems.
Australians could not believe that Bashir only got 2.5 years for ‘masterminding’ the Bali terror attack whereas fellow Australian Schapelle Corby, got a 20-year sentence for ’smuggling’ 4.1 kg of cannabis. They did not realise that the prosecution against Bashir was based on flimsy evidences – so far on all the serious charges, Bashir has been acquited. He was only found quilty for ‘enticement’ for lack of a better word. Not only that, the law that Bashir supposedly breached has been struck down by the Constitutional Court as it cannot be applied retrospectively. The bombers themselves however, three of them, have been convicted and were sentenced to death.
Then came the ‘muslims-favor-muslims’ remark about the judges. They seem to have forgotten that the chief judge was the same judge who was presiding over the Bali bombers’ trial and most importantly, he is not a Muslim.
The attacks didnt stop there. ‘Corrupt’ was too frequently used to describe the justice system and somehow, the proceeding has not been fair and corrupt. Until now, there has been NO evidence that the judges and the prosecutors are involved in corrupt practices in handling the case.
‘Uncivilised’ was also thrown into the amusing public outrage. They claimed that the jail system in Indonesia is inhumane with little sanitised water and proper food made available to the prisoners. What do you expect in a jail? Some western prisoners in the Bali jail have said, if you were unlucky enough to be imprisoned in Asia, Bali is one of the best jails available. 5 days visitations a week, you can decorate your own room, you can get your meals from outside, you can even have your own mobile phone in the jail! Obviously it is more cozy to live in Australia with many things taken for granted. But for many ordinary Indonesians, even the next meal cannot be taken for granted. Australians’ outcry about the ‘bad’ living condition in an Indonesian jail has been considered ‘obnoxious’ at the very least by ordinary Indonesians who were following the case.
But i want to focus more about the ‘corruption’ aspect of Indonesia. I can sympathise with their accusations. Indonesia is indeed one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Its status has been formalised by the yearly corruption index of Transaparency International. Many Indonesians are simply tired of the ‘KKN’ epidemic in the country (KKN – Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism). Are something being done about it? Of course, open up any Indonesian news sites, i can bet that on a daily basis, at least one article is about corruption. How come its so prevalent? Well.. look at the history… corruption in Indonesia has been going on for centuries. Starting from the VOC (Dutch East Indies Companies) to the modern Indonesia.
To some extent, this epidemic has been ’supported’ by many western governments, especially in the Suharto’s era. Many foreign governments and foreign agencies were providing Indonesia with abundant of foreign investments, loans, grants, etc, to stop Indonesia becoming a communist country at the height of the cold war. It is no secret that Suharto’s rise to power has been a concerted effort by the CIA so that Washington can have a ‘friendlier’ government. The first Indonesian president, Sukarno at that time was seen as too sympathetic with the communist cause. The final straw for the US was when Sukarno said the now-famous remark to the US Ambassador: ‘Go to hell with your aid!’. Sukarno later withdrew from the UN and impose an isolationist policy of Indonesia after the UN recognised Malaysia as a country.
In their views, there could not be a better replacement than Suharto. The mass genocide committed as he rose to power had been a forgotten history – many western governments simply closed their eyes. Some have estimated as many as 1 million were exterminated. No one will ever know the true extent of this astrocious crimes against humanity. But it’s ok, the western saw Suharto as the ally needed in the region. President LB Johnson even used Indonesia as a case example in boosting the morale of American troops fighting in Vietnam.
Plenty and plenty of money then flowed into the country to support the new regime. These moneys were then misused and Indonesia had a new strong military-backed governments with overreaching bureaucratic powers. The bureaucrats installed to run various government ministries have benefitted individually. In those years, it is an accepted fact of life that the only way to get things done is if you have money. Yet, the unlimited amount of money kept flowing into the country through various ‘international’ agencies like the IMF. They know that corruption was (and still is) rampant, and those moneys are subject to ‘cuts’ from various officials. Their response was Indonesia is a ‘high-cost economy’, referring to the bribes and various payments paid to government officials to ensure ‘protection and preferential treatment’.
When the crisis hit. IMF was quick to offer billions and billions of dollars of loan. Why? Not because they want to ‘help’ Indonesia, but because these moneys are needed to ‘bail out’ foreign investors who have lost their moneys in Indonesia. This obviously created a ‘moral hazard’ both for rich Indonesians and foreign investors. In those days, prior to the crisis, when the economy was still booming (actually was waiting for the steam to run out), banks were opening everywhere like mushrooms. There is no need for capital adequacy check. There were only two requirements: (1) know the right officials and (2) have 200million rupiahs (exchange rate at that time 1USD = Rp 2000). You can own your own bank!
No wonder there were ‘bank runs’ when the crisis hit. Many depositors simply flocked the banks demanding their deposits. But you know the nature of deposits – at call and at par! Those deposits had been tranformed to various assets such as properties and loans . They simply didnt have the money! The crisis deepened further, sending Rupiah to an all time low of 1USD = Rp 18,000! Hyperinflation was happening, the Central Bank tried preventing capital outflow from the countries by imposing capital control and restriction. The interest rate was also high to encourage people to give moneys to the bank – the craziest was 70% monthly interest rate!! Yes, if you put Rp100m at the start of the month, you will get Rp170m at the end of the month. Yet, people are still afraid to put money in the bank. The rumour at that time was the government could ‘nationalise’ any deposits above Rp100m. The reason: You are Indonesian, Indonesia was in a crisis, as a citizen you ought to help. Capital outflow simply continued. In fact, according to the Indonesian Minister of Trade, a net capital inflow only happened as recent as last year.
All these were happening at the same time as political reform. Many things have happened since. The prescription offered by the IMF didnt work. Megawati condemned it in her State of the Union address. It was the strongest message sent to the IMF so far by any Indonesian high officals. She said:
“However, we also need to pay attention to the acknowledgement of the IMF that has honestly and openly admitted the existence of errors in their recommendation to our government in 1997. The problem lies in that it was also those errors that became the precursors to the policy of liquidity assistance that nearly bankrupted our monetary system. In reality, a mere admission of mistake may not be enough, for up to the present time we still have to bear the brunt of the impact from the mistake of those recommendations.
We have, all this time, listened to their suggestions and recommendations, and it is now high time for them to also listen to our normal and legitimate complaints, and make amends to maintain and restore their reputation in our eyes. For this reason, in order not to prolong the difficulties arising as result of the 1997 monetary crisis, in 2003, in compliance with the mandate stipulated in Decree Number VI/MPR/2002 or in Decision Number 5/MPR/2003, I have decided to put an end to the co-operation with the IMF. In a broader scale, that measure is also intended as an effort to gradually decrease our dependence on foreign lending while simultaneously increase the effort for our self-reliance. “
Click here for my earlier post on this important addess
But the trouble doesnt end here. Indonesia is the 4th populous country in the world. Its 200 million people are spread throughout the archipelago consisting of 17,667 islands. Ensuring that a fair and open government while balancing the need to have effective control over separatists movements and various local ideologies and cultures are indeed tricky tasks for any government. Centralisation of the government was the only way to deal with the issues. But with centralisation of power, comes dissatisfactions from many throughout the archipelago. Plenty have accussed Jakarta of simply ’slaving away’ other provinces. So for many foreigners Jakarta is Indonesia and Indonesia is Jakarta. Just like Bali is to many Australians.
Indonesia as a country has progressed so much in the past 10 years. Free press, free direct election, and now the diaspora of free local elections are celebrated. But yes, there are still a lot of things that need to be done. In my humble opinion, this complex corruption epidemic cannot be easily erased away. It takes at least two generations. For those who keep blaming Indonesia for all the problems they have, maybe it takes an open mind to realise that the international community has failed many ordinary Indonesians. Simply bitching about it wont help. What kind of message do you want Indonesians to hear? That their country is corrupt? Mate, they already know that. This kinda ‘megaphone diplomacy’ must be stopped.
For many Indonesians, hope is the only light at the end of the tunnel. Because without hope, i see no chance of a true reform happening in Indonesia. Indonesia and its people are well known for the strength of its characters. Not even 350 years of Dutch rule and subsequent 3.5 years of Japanese occupation can take away the continued struggle of ordinary Indonesians. This test will soon pass. For what it’s worth, I am a proud Indonesian and will always be.
, unless of course, you are a poser!)