Athanasia Safitri
Cited Syed Hussein Alatas’ definition of corruption as ‘passion for luxurious living’, Dicky Sofjan, MA, MPP., Ph.D, a Core Doctoral Faculty in the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), expressed his view on ethical and responsible governance in Indonesia. He presented three analytical frameworks explaining the significant challenges to governance in Indonesia: 1) ethical deficit; 2) hyper-rationalism; and 3) elite intransigence.
He shared his insight on a podcast organized by BPIP – Badan Pembinaan Ideologi Pancasila (National Agency for Pancasila Ideology Development) earlier this year in Medan. The podcast series is an effort to promote Pancasila values and collaborate with various stakeholders. Sofjan’s expertise on ethics as well as his active participation as Vice President in Globethics, an international NGO working for ethical leadership through higher education and global engagement, puts a sympathetic perspective on this issue.
Crucial ethical problems
Sofjan started by pointing out that ethics definitely comes from habitual actions. The ethical problems in Indonesian governance are triggered by the lack of sense in recognizing what is good and bad. It has started to become a culture for people to act and think only what is common, not what is right and correct according to human conscience. He highlighted that when one thinks about ethics, one has to compare how the same setting can work in different environments.
Sofjan mentioned three major problems related to the crucial issues in governance these days. The first one is the ethics deficit where ethical components become less important for society due to misinterpretation of ethics. People wrongly assume that ethics are always related to religious traditions in everyday life. Ethical rules must be separate from religion since they contain morals and do not always run in proportion with religious practice. The second one is hyper-rationalism in which people have the mentality of opportunists. It prevents ethics from developing and implementing because there is rationalism that is considered commonplace.
The next problem is the elite intransigence; government officials who seek benefits for themselves and particular groups. Sofjan quoted Syed Hussein Alatas’ definition of corruption which defines it as a living tendency to be luxurious. The passion for luxurious living is the definition of a corrupt mentality which is highly displayed in society on social media platforms. Sofjan considered it as a fearful situation that democracy may vanish as a result of public cynicism towards government and state administrators.
Critical-thinkings and doings
Corrupt mentality has been a habit in Indonesian governance and the lack of ethics may affect the policy and several decision-makings at the state level. A prolonged misperception must be corrected and it needs active participation from the citizen. People should train themselves in differing right and wrong, and bear in mind that Indonesia can also build a strong nation with healthy and ethical governance.
In countries like Japan and Korea whose high governance ethics, elite and government officials resign or even take extreme decisions ending their lives when convicted of misconduct. The problem in our corrupt governance may be rooted in the anemic judicial system in our country towards corruptors. Ethics deficit, hyper-rationalism, and elite intransigence seem to justify corrupt behavior so citizen’s active involvement is much needed. People of all levels, especially the young ones to reconstruct an understanding of ethical governance, should exercise themselves in recognizing unethical behaviors and actions in day-to-day settings. With transparency, collective awareness, and mass monitoring, there will be no space for irresponsible acts and thoughts from our governance and state administrators.
