“Upon arrival here, I thought, this is the effect of corruption. If there were no corruption, a situation like this would not exist, because, the real Indonesia is a very rich country. “This was the statement made by Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Antasari Azhar upon arrival at the Daruat Kartini School (Kartini emergency school) in the area of, Bandan Slums, Gudang, North Jakarta, Thursday (6/11).
Antasari spent 90 minutes from 10:00-11:30 at a school that could be described as the 'real' face behind the opulence of Jakarta. The reason for this visit was to provide anti-corruption awareness and motivation.
Antasari's initial statement emerged because this school, in no way represents the affluence of Jakarta. The classroom stands on land belonging to PT Kareta Api and consists of only a simple asbestos roof measuring 6 x 40 meters. There are no
partitions or walls that divide rooms or distinguish the boundaries between the school and the surrounding environment.
The school's 10 teachers and approximately 550 students, ranging form primary to senior high school level, share the one open room. The learning/teaching process can be observed by all passer-bys.
The heat is exacerbated by the school's asbestos roof, its location on the coast, and the cooking facilities in the center of the room which are used to cook rice or vegetables for the students.
Yet, the challenges faced by students at this school are not limited to stifling heat and the stench of Jakartan pollution. The sound of trains passing in front and trucks passing behind frequently disrupts learning as the school is inconveniently squeezed between a railway line and a warehouse complex.
“We have been here for a year. We are here because we were evicted from our previous location, a hollow near the toll road and vegetable fields,” said Rossy, the manager of the school which became a place of study and hope for children of poor families from the surrounding communities.
The conditions at this school are diametrically opposed to the appearance of accused corruption suspects handled by KPK, who have until now generally appeared well off as they are accompanied by professional lawyers.
It is likely that the students at this school have never seen the amount of money needed to buy a shirt, or even the makeup worn by one of these suspects or defendants. How then could they even begin to imagine the amount of money spent on legal assistance, or the amount of money allegedly corrupted by them?
On the other hand, corruption suspects or defendants might perhaps find it difficult to imagine that not so far away, in Jakarta, there is a place where 550 students battle impoverished conditions to peruse an education, such as occurs in Daruat Kartini School.
These two issues are tightly connected. “If the corrupted money was used in the way it was intended, places such Daruat Kartini School would not exist. It is accurate to say that the condition of this school is an effect of corruption,” said Antasari.
“Yet, this does not exclude one of you from becoming a minister or even president, because, it is not your location, but your dedication that will make you succeed,” said Antasari to students at the school.
For this reason, anti-corruption values must be promoted at places like Daruat Kartini School. Yet even more importantly, the real impacts of corruption must receive attention far more frequently.
Source : Kompas, 07 November 2008
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