Classy on the Outside, Messy on the Inside

On 23 October 2021, a group of expert staff for economic affairs at the Palace visited my house in Yogyakarta.

The group was traveling by car in Central and East Java in order to monitor how far the President's orders and policies were translated down to the lower levels. Their findings were not much different from the general public impression: Most of the orders and policies were not implemented or deliberately deflected at the lower levels.

In some areas, the grip of particular conglomerates was allowed to operate in economic activities that concern the needs of the people. This is the same as killing the sustenance of the people at the grassroots level. In fact, this is contrary to the President's orders and policies because it clearly only benefits entrepreneurs who are already very powerful. Often, in this country, the strong prey on the helpless.

Predator game

To be clear, here are the findings of the expert staff for economic affairs about how cruel the predatory conglomerate game is. “For rice/paddy, it happened in several areas of East Java, such as Lamongan, Bojonegoro; in Central Java, it happened in Kendal, Pemalang and several other regencies.”

This grip “kills small [rice] mills that have limited capital. For corn, it has also penetrated into corn production centers in Sumbawa, East Java, Central Java. One of the implications is that it is difficult for poultry farmers to get corn, especially when it is not harvesting” (based on a WhatsApp message from the expert staff I received on 7 November 2021, at 09:14).

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This is just a small example of how the President's good intentions are played out at the grassroots level. Examples of this kind can be found in almost all lines of the state bureaucratic network, which is often an extension of the conglomerates.

Perhaps, some of the information about these irregularities reached the President. Most of the others went unreported. Thus, what was heralded as bureaucratic reform progressed very slowly, dealing with the bureaucratic mentality that had been rusted for decades.

This kind of phenomenon also applies to the police and of course also to the Indonesian Military (TNI): superiors' policies are torpedoed at the lower levels.

If this republic is likened to a certain restaurant, it is clean, classy and dashing in the front, but dirty and messy in the kitchen. In the Minang language there is the expression "rancak di labuah" (it looks good on the road, but at home it's actually a poor man). Or, classy on the outside, crumbly on the inside.

Of course, this comparison is not always correct because there are good parts in this republic’s kitchen, even though it may only be in the form of small ripples. The major part is like the picture of the restaurant. It's been 23 years since the Reform Era, which originally carried the slogan of anti-KKN (corruption, collusion, nepotism), these three social issues are even more relapsing as time goes on.

Slogans are just slogans, reality goes wild according to its own will. The state and society failed to control this wildness.

This is what I mean by the title of this article. At the recent G20 session in Rome, President Jokowi was so highly appreciated there that for 2022 the group's presidency was entrusted to Indonesia. This is an international honor for this country to be grateful for.

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However, on the other hand, in a country that became the kitchen of the Republic, social, economic, cultural and political problems were far from settled, if not messy. Corruption is still prevalent, drugs seem to be unstoppable, the actions of the police and other officers are hurting all of us.

There are officials who protect gambling, illegal mining and all kinds of other forms of bad behavior. In the world of justice, similar symptoms of messy stuff are not difficult to find. Everywhere there is buying and selling of things. About 80 percent of lawyers, Todung Mulya Lubis told me a few years ago, are mere legal mafia.

For the last few years, the public has been presented with bad news about state-owned enterprises that have been consuming “their own intestines” for a long time. For example, Bumiputra 1912 Insurance, Jiwasraya Insurance, PT Asabri Persero, PT Garuda Indonesia and dozens of other state-owned enterprises are on the brink of collapse. In fact, all these SOEs must have a commissioner in charge of supervising the company.

With this bitter reality, it can be concluded that the board of directors and the board of commissioners were both involved in a conspiracy that caused state-owned companies to run out of breath. This means that the state has failed to carry out its task of managing the SOEs. If these SOEs were managed properly, professionally and responsibly so far, it would be of great benefit to the interests of many people.

Kompas

Didie SW

PT Garuda Indonesia needs special attention because its birth was in the same spirit as the Republic, which has been the pride of all of us. The embryo began in 1948 when the people of Aceh managed to collect 20 kilograms of gold to buy the legendary RI 001 Seulawah aircraft.

Then in 1950 PT Garuda Indonesia was established, a state-owned aviation company. I have been flying with Garuda for more than 20 years. The service is good, clean, snacks are always provided, even though the ticket price is more expensive than other planes. But why did PT

Garuda end up falling apart, when its subsidiary, PT Citilink, was able to survive and was relatively good.

With a total debt of Rp 70 trillion, the management of PT Garuda has long been rotting from the inside. Again, like the face of the restaurant above as part of the face of the Republic, the front and back are as different as day and night. Bright in front, gloomy, dark and suffocating inside.

On a more basic scale, the cooperative institutions which are said to be an integral part of the implementation of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution have been left dying since the proclamation of independence. Often referred to as the pillar of the populist economy, but its fate is like a kerakap (Piperacea) tree growing on a rock, neither live nor die.

Fix your own kitchen

The panorama “rancak di labuah” or “classy on the outside, crumbly on the inside” is a chronic social disease that has been deceiving us all along

This bitterness has long raised big questions, namely whether this pattern of nation and state development is guided by the 1945 Constitution or is this Constitution only used as a shield to cover up the ferocity of the de facto neoliberal system that betrays the entire spirit of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution?

The panorama “rancak di labuah” or “classy on the outside, crumbly on the inside” is a chronic social disease that has been deceiving us all along. The oath of office of the bureaucrats before being appointed or holding a position does not seem to have any effect in guarding and guiding their behavior as public officials. The disgusting habits of ABS and AIS (as long as the father [boss] is happy and the mother is happy) are still loyal to us to this day. This is deceitful behavior that obscures the true black reality.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Ahmad Syafii Maarif

Finally, congratulations to President Jokowi who is increasingly appreciated at the global level, but please look at the condition in our “kitchen” which is still messy with a gloomy face.

Actually, the President's burden will be lighter if the ministers and officials under him are willing to work well, honestly and full of responsibility. But, it is this value that is noticeably hard to find these days!

Ahmad Syafii Maarif, Chairman of Muhammadiyah 1998-2005

This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko.