Indonesia's Culture of Corruption Exposed on Film

Jakarta Globe, Lisa Siregar, January 27, 2012

‘Kita versus Korupsi’ features four short films about corruption in everyday
 life. The film’s cast agreed to contribute their talents free of charge.
(Photo courtesy of Kita versus Korupsi) 

            

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Every Indonesian knows that corruption is common for smoothing every bureaucratic process. You got a speeding ticket? Pay the officer. You want to renew your passport? Pay the immigration staff. You want to score a meeting with a very important person? Send the secretary a gift.

What Indonesians may not realize is that corruption is slowly becoming a culture.

“Today, people can no longer decide if a corrupt act is really corruption,” said Abduh Aziz, the secretary general of the Jakarta Arts Council and a film producer.

To highlight this cultural shift and nationwide problem, a group of filmmakers banded together to produce a collection of four short films running a total of 75 minutes.

With the help of Transparency International, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Management Systems International and the US Agency for International Development, four directors give their take on graft. They hope their collective endeavor will educate Indonesians on the harm that corruption inflicts on a society.

Entitled “Kita versus Korupsi” (“Us Against Corruption”), the film explains how corruption has rooted itself in everyday Indonesian life. The cast features popular actors and actresses, including Dominique Diyose, Tora Sudiro and Ringgo Agus Rahman. Noted scriptwriter Prima Rusdi was also involved as the project’s creative director.

“We hope the film will be able to speak about honesty and integrity,” Abduh said.

The idea behind the project came from Busyro Muqoddas. The former chief of the KPK knows better than most that corruption is a very complex issue here.

Corrupt dealings are a daily occurrence at nearly every level of government, and every case has a different motive. An even more worrying problem is that a study by the KPK has shown that more and more young officials are becoming corrupt. Busyro decided to launch a campaign to handle these problems after realizing that law enforcement alone was not enough to win the war against corruption.

“A corrupt person is a morally disabled person, so what we really need to do is reform the culture,” he said.

Busyro hopes the film will touch people’s consciences. He hopes that after seeing the film, people will be inspired to start a social movement to fight corruption at the grassroots level.

Film director Lasja F. Susatyo said that endless news reports about corruption had demoralized her. “We hear about corruption very often, but there’s nothing we can do about it,” she said. “We just get angry on Facebook and Twitter.”

Lasja and her friends share the KPK’s concerns that the younger generation is increasingly seeing corruption as normal and acceptable. Lasja, who also teaches at Paramadina University, once heard a student tell a friend that they should just accept corruption as a part of life.

“Maybe because the media always have these stories in the news, people are desensitized,” she said. “You don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong anymore.”

Lasja directed a 16-minute short called “Aku Padamu” (“I Am Into You”), which stars actors Nicholas Saputra and Revalina S. Temat. It follows the story of a couple who run away to be with each other. The problem is, they can’t get married because they don’t have the necessary letters and documents. The groom wants to bribe the officials, but the bride refuses. After all, the very reason they ran away is because her father is involved in a corruption case.

Each film examines a case of corruption in an everyday environment, such as in the family or at school.

Chairun Nissa’s 13-minute film is about a teacher and students and how they learn about good values. Ine Febriyanti and Emil Heradi finish out the directorial roster. Ine gives her take about a career woman who tries to avoid paying a bribe, while Emil’s film portrays someone who feels guilty for being corrupt.

Because it’s a serious, deep-rooted issue, Abduh wanted to make sure the team took the right approach for the films.

“We didn’t want to tell a story about huge corruption cases, because we already hear about these every day,” he said.

One goal is to educate Indonesian children, who often learn about corruption through family and school.

Abduh pointed out how students were encouraged to buy schoolbooks through their teachers. The teacher then earns a commission and gives the students better scores in return.

And many parents undoubtedly tell their teens to pay bribes to get identification cards or driver’s licenses.

“We see how corruption is being internalized by our children,” he said.

Abduh said the coalition received a lot of help in making the films, including from the actors, who did not receive payment for their contributions. The film crews also charged lower than normal rates and equipment was rented at discounted prices. Shooting took place over 14 days in November.

“Turns out, there are many people who want to speak about corruption,” Lasja said.

Every short film in the collection was inspired by true events. For Lasja, the film should highlight the underbelly of society. Everybody readily blames law enforcement in corruption cases, but nobody criticizes the values system, she said.

“Those who suffer the injustice of corruption may themselves be corrupt,” she said.

“We have become so impatient that we don’t invest our time in doing the right thing. Everyone wants privilege and to be treated like a VIP, but they don’t want to go through the process.”

The film premiered in Jakarta on Thursday and will be screened in an additional 17 cities. After each screening, Abduh plans to hold a discussion. Because the creators want to have personalized screenings for the film, it won’t necessarily be available in local cinemas.

Lasja said they hoped to work with local cinemas to provide free screenings, otherwise they would also try to collaborate with cultural centers or secure rooms and projectors where possible.

“We won’t sell tickets, so the film will be screened for free,” she said.

“Kita versus Korupsi” will also be available on YouTube and DVD after all the initial screenings are complete.