Background
Indonesia has been an independent country since 1945, and the majority of its citizens are Muslim. Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism are prohibited in Islamic Law; thus any kind of practice should be avoided and must be prevented as much as possible if a Muslim wants to be a good Muslim. Below is a Hadith regarding this:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah as saying: He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith.“
Sahih Muslim No. 49a | Source: https://sunnah.com/muslim:49a
Additionally, I believe that other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, or Buddhism have laws regarding Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism. I can say that almost 100% of Indonesian people are a follower of religion because it is mandatory by Law. In their National ID, for instance, there is a field of religion that the person is following.
Indonesian Election 2024
The Indonesian Election in February 2024 is intended to elect a new President and vice President, elect a new member of the House of Representatives (DPR), and elect a new member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD). In short, the Indonesian election model is one man one vote, so every head count will contribute the same regardless of their profession, education, or wealth. For the presidential election, the winner of the election is the candidate who received 50% + 1 vote (Majority). If no one received that amount of votes, then a second election will subsequently be held to elect the winner and the runner-up in the previous election. On the other hand, for DPR and DPD elections, the process of selecting the winner is a little bit complex. You can Google that if you want to learn more.
It has become a public secret that during political events such as elections, there are always money politics in Indonesia. The money can be in many forms instead of Bank Notes, such as Coconut Oil, Sugar, or even Rice. In other words, during the campaign, a candidate will bring money or the equivalent to be given to people who attend the campaign in exchange for their votes. For example, a candidate will give a person IDR 100,000 and that person “must” vote for the candidate.
Field Observation
Despite almost 100% of religious followers in Indonesia and the majority of them being Muslim, I can see very contradictory activities in the real life of Indonesia. If they are a religious follower, a Muslim, for instance, they will hate and prevent that activity if they see it.
However, they are doing it. Even worse, the Indonesian people, at least in my village and in my city, normalize that action. Thus, it is normal and is a must for a candidate to bring coconut oil, sugar, and rice, or even give away money for the audience during a political campaign. If the candidate did not bring anything, I could say 95% of people would not come to the campaign.
Last but not least, there is a powerful political weapon that is also a public secret called “Serangan Fajar” in Indonesia. It is a practice of giving money at the dawn on the day of the election and the candidate’s loyal supporters will monitor and count the votes to be matched with the money they have given. If some people do not vote for the candidate after they have given the money, the loyal supporter will scold the people and demand the money to be given back. From where do I know about this practice? It is my real-life experience in the 2019 election.
Analysis
I am always wondering why Indonesian people normalize money politics although it is one form of corruption. Why are they willing to receive and even hope that they will be given money by a political candidate in exchange for their vote?
Indonesian people, especially the followers of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), one of the biggest Muslim organizations in Indonesia, like to do “Pengajian” and it is done every week. It is like a short-time prayer that is done together and sometimes also has a lecture by a local Muslim leader or a preacher to teach the people about the Islamic way of life. But the problem is, why did it not work to prevent corruption at the grassroots level? They repeat the prayer every week such as reading Surah Yasin of the Holy Qur’an, even some people I know do it every day, so why do they still think that Money Politics is normal?
From my observation, most of the Indonesian people did not learn Arabic. Although many Indonesians can read Arabic, they only learn to read it and do not understand the language. Why do they do that? Because of the community emphasizes more on “Able to Read the Qur’an” instead of “Understanding and Practicing the Qur’an”, so, although Indonesians do Muslims’ prayers every day, read the Surah of the Holy Qu’ran every day, or even read the entire Holy Qur’an in just a few hours during the “Khataman” event, they do not understand what they are reading and saying. As a result, the messages of the praying (in the Arabic language) and the Holly Qur’an cannot go through the person’s heart. It is a very simple example of why an Indonesian person who reads the “Surah Yasin” daily still normalizes corruption in their daily life although the message in “Surah Yasin” itself contains a warning about punishment in Hell for the wrongdoers.
Potential Solution
Better Education is one of a few solutions to solve this complex corruption culture in Indonesia. And this education must include “Moral” and “Character” education. I believe that Indonesian education needs to be improved and revolutionized. There are so many problems in the Indonesian Education system that I will not discuss here. But I suggest the government focus more on Improving education.
First of all, the Indonesian government must increase the salary of all teachers and treat them as the “Highest” or most “Proudest” professionals. The standard qualification of the teachers must be set as “Very High” and followed by “Very High Salary”. As of 2024, I see that Influencers, politicians, and High-Level Public Servants are paid “Very High” but the teachers’ salary is “Very Low”. And this is super wrong. How can a person who educates the Indonesian future generation be paid a super small salary, and the difficulty of the job is no joke? The government must take action on how to make the “Teaching” profession is “High Moral Value” and “High Economic Value” profession.
If the smartest group of people in Indonesia are not willing to be a teacher, then the position will be filled by the mediocre or even the low-rank people. You can guess what it will become when the teachers are not experts, how can they produce high-quality students?
Limitation
I intentionally limit this writing to up to 10 minutes of reading time at most. Thus, some analyses may lack the depth. However, I think it is enough to give you a high-level understanding of the topic of corruption culture in Indonesia.
