Corruption Perceptions Index...

The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International has been released recently. I was reading about this on a blog, "the two-way", hosted over at the National Public Radio (NPR) site and came across the following excerpt:

Corruption is something that just becomes ingrained in a society and once it's there it's hard to stop. It becomes a habit of mind, a sense that this is simply how things done. An official pamphlet given to Iraqi refugees who are heading to the States advises them not to bribe police officers. After working in Iraq for years I came home from one trip and had to go to the DMV. I'm waiting in line, as one does, and all I can think is, "Who can I bribe to make this go away?" To address corruption you have to change a society's whole way of thinking about what the cultural norms are, which is not easy, to say the least.

There are no real surprises in the list in the sense that Somalia, Burma, Afghanistan and Iraq rank as the most corrupt countries on earth. There are also no real surprises in Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore being the least corruptible nations going around.

Indonesia has stayed pretty much steady. The fact that Indonesia has remained steady is not a real positive outcome for Indonesia or Indonesians. It is, though, and accurate indictment of the failures of SBY and his government in delivering on the core election promise that he made in 2004 and 2009 to clamp down on corruption. However, that is for another post.

What struck me about the NPR piece is the idea that to address corruption requires a fundamental shift in the way the community thinks. The cultural norms that have developed that allow corruption to persist have to be broken down and new norms established. This idea is just so true for Indonesia. Yet, it is also the reason corruption eradication efforts have been so unsuccessful. Entrenched interests have been very successful at thwarting most efforts for reform and change while simultaneously encouraging others to be change-resistant as well. Corruption is something that is ingrained, no doubt about that.

I am the eternal optimist. Change will come to Indonesia. It is only a matter of time. Corruptors need to known that they are on borrowed time, the game is up!

Burma -- Get Educated!

Being a regular viewer of You tube means that you come across lots of cool videos. Even so, you do not always see everything that is out there. This particular video I became aware of after dropping by the FriskoDude. CP has been out of blogging action for a while because of some hardware dramas but hopefully he is back in full swing now.

This video is part of the Burma: It Can't Wait campaign.




So, let's get educated. I wonder who Indonesia's equivalent of Tila Tequila is?

Protesting in Jakarta

I read with interest that the "opinion" piece in the Jakarta Post today was about responsible protesting and the fact that protesters no longer seemed to care about the people that their protesting would affect. This now seems to be standard fodder for many editorialists and opinion writers. It is a line that has been trotted out before and one I have commented on elsewhere in my blog. It is also something that has been trotted out by Globe Media in their flag bearing publication "Globe Asia".

The gist of the argument is that street demonstrations and protests cause traffic jams, traffic jams make people late for work and negatively impacts on business, these negative impacts cost money, and money lost means investors are likely to rethink whether or not to invest in Indonesia. Yeah, right! Pull the other chain in plays Dixie!

The whole point of protesting is to exercise a democratic right to do so and to hold your government accountable. Can it be inconvenient, yes. Should it be inconvenient, yes! The reality is that the only time some of us might ever think about an issue is if it directly impacts upon us. Being caught in a traffic jam and being late impacts upon us. But instead of being angry at the protesters, perhaps this anger should be directed towards the government that allowed conditions to get to a point where people felt that their only recourse was to demonstrate and protest.

So, the protesters threw some Molotov cocktails. This is hardly a reason to ban protests altogether! It is an excuse though to stifle the democratic rights of the masses. Those that break the law by perpetrating violence threw such methods as the destruction of property must be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent permissible under the law. Peaceful demonstrations no matter how inconvenient must be permitted. These demonstrations and protests are legitimate means of expression and calling the government to account.

The Jakarta Post singles out the recent actions relating to the proposed and now happened fuel price hike. The protesters have legitimate concerns here as to their ability to live without additional government assistance and the proportional impact of the price rise on the poor compared to the more affluent.

I have not seen the Jakarta Post jumping up and down about the inconvenience caused by protests staged by the PKS in support of Palestine! This is also a worthy cause, but if we are going to characterize the argument into one of convenience, then any protest in support of any aim that results in a traffic jam should be frowned upon. Once again this clearly misses the point of protesting and taking your demands to the street.

The Jakarta Post's solution to this problem is to restrict protests and demonstrations to public parks such as in and around Monas. Why not go the whole nine yards and allocated special days for protests to be held in the out-of-the-way surrounds of the Ragunan Zoo. The Jakarta Post then goes even further with this gem:

"It is high time for Indonesians to avoid such past practices for changing the state leadership to the more modern, constitutional means: the five-yearly democratic election."

This I am guessing is a suggestion that protests and demonstrations should be banned altogether and the only permissible protest by the community must come at the ballot box and only every five years. Maybe the Jakarta Post should be telling Zimbabweans that the best way forward is not street protests but accepting your fate and then voting the office holders out at the next election.

If the Jakarta Post is not in the mood to go that far, why not editorialize something much closer to home such as the inept generals of the Burmese regime, who in their citizens' moment of most critical need they are ummmming and ahhhing about whether or not to let foreign aid workers in. Maybe street protests, although sometimes violent and violently suppressed by authorities are the best way to bring attention to one's plight.

The right to protest is a democratic right and this must not be curtailed for reasons of convenience. Maybe if we all paid a little more attention and demanded a lot more of our elected governments then protests would occur a whole lot less frequently! The photograph is courtesy of the Jakarta Post and photographer Ricky Yudhistira.

Burma / Myanmar and Indonesia

The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) has rejected Myanmar's nominated ambassador to Indonesia because Myanmar maintains a military junta to rule the country. Essentially, what the DPR is saying here is 'return to democracy' and we will allow full diplomatic relations to be restored.

Ultimately, Indonesia and the DPR are relying on a recent ASEAN Charter regarding human rights and also recent ASEAN activity demanding that Burma commence immediate moves to the restoration of full democracy.

At the same time the DPR accepted the nominated ambassadors from Nigeria and Mauritania.

This is a good move and some would say about time and long overdue!

Despite assurances from the junta that Myanmar is moving towards more open democracy and greater popular participation in the electoral process and governance, any long time observer of Burma knows that this is something you take with a grain of salt as not being true. It is a fiction!People should not forget that Burma was moving towards democracy in September last year when the junta exposed itself once again for what it really is -- a group of aging generals and younger sycophants desperate to hang onto power at any cost.

The reality is that while ever Aung San Suu Kyi remains a political prisoner and under house arrest any claims of moving towards democracy must be rejected as unsustainable fiction. The last time free and fair elections were held in Burma the party of Aung San Suu Kyi emerged victorious and overwhelmingly so.

However, despite this principled stand by the DPR it is worth noting that some of the conditions that are being cited as being the grounds that must be satisfied to see normal and full diplomatic relations restored include such things as: protections for the freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, freedom of association, and freedom of movement. Interestingly, arguments can be made that Indonesia also has some issues on these very same fronts!

The proposed amendments to the Press Law for example arguably bring into question whether the freedom of expression and opinion as guaranteed under the Constitution are in fact sustainable in Indonesia if the amended provisions pass the DPR and come into force.

Indonesians are subject to freedom of movement restrictions presumably for public order reasons. For example, the Government of Jakarta routinely conducts raids to check the identity of city residents. Those residents with identity cards issued from outside the capital are returned back to where they came.

Indonesian laws have restrictive freedom of association provisions and despite improvements Indonesians rights in this area still lag in real terms.

Indonesia should be applauded for taking such a principled stance but at the same time the DPR should not neglect to attend to business in its own backyard. This can be done by ensuring that the regulatory framework required for the development of full democracy is put into place in Indonesia. Simply, because if it does not then it might not be too far into the distant future that other States might start to ask more serious questions about Indonesia's commitment to the democratic principles it says that it aspires to achieve.