Adding a shot of honesty to your morning or mid-day cuppa seems to be the new mantra in Indonesia. To battle its battered image as one of the most corrupt and dishonest countries in the world, the Government of Indonesia has started what are called “Honesty Cafes”. These are cafes where students and everyone else has the choice of paying either at the register or dropping the required amount into an unsupervised pot of money thus inculcating an honour system.
Using this method may seem like a long shot at teaching people how to be honest but it has succeeded in one fundamental way- it acknowledges that problems such as dishonesty, corruption and lack of civic sense exist in the very fabric of a society and therefore need ground level action to change attitudes. In other words there are no short-cuts to changing the way a society functions and if you must over haul something for the long run, it is important to focus on the youth. After all they are the generation of tomorrow and they will be the ones passing along the legacy.
As expected there are different view on the subject. Some people are cynical and see this merely as window dressing by a Government caught in the glare of international opinion. With the head of the anti-corruption agency himself under scrutiny for murder, and the President’s son’s father-in-law convicted of bribery, the problem seems to be so deep that a mere café seems at best like at attempt at fighting an elephant with a kitchen knife.
But is this kitchen knife doomed to fail and fizzle out? It may sound clichéd but with time even water can cut into stone and in the Ajanta and Ellora caves we have an example of how chisels and hammers combined with dedication created monuments that in today’s world would seem possible only with heavy duty engineering. So if the Indonesian Government and its people are serious about the drive to change its image, they must set down this path with belief and a lot of patience. Newspaper reports say that the Government intends to evaluate the program after six months. This must be done, but a few set backs should not be used as an excuse to discontinue. They must give this its due time to succeed. It is a public sector initiative and results will come at a pace unique to this sector.
To elaborate my point I would like to quote the example of the Delhi Metro system. When the trains started everyone felt that the average Indian commuter, so used to abusing public property would destroy the trans and the metro stations would soon look like replicas of the erstwhile Indian Railways’ train stations. But nearly three years into it’s operations the system is functioning smoothly and the commuters have learnt to give it its due respect.
The success of Delhi metro throws up three key ingredients a public sector initiative should have if it hopes to change something at a fundamental level- in it’s case the ability of a public transport system in India to be viable and successful. These key ingredients are
A strong and committed leadership. The Delhi Metro had that in Mr. Sreedharan. His vision and belief saw the project to its fruition through the several years that it took to construct the tracks. The blueprint of the project might be available to any such initiative to replicate but it must be understood that such things cannot be blindly copied. The Indonesian Government must, if it intends to succeed, find a person who has the belief and the strength to see the initiative through
A plan for sustained growth and levels of quality. The metro stations are still clean and peaceful because in its plans were included provisions for police personnel who would constantly supervise the traffic and the stations. Yes, the time will come when outside supervision will no longer needed but the Metro project acknowledges that this change will take time. In the meanwhile an outside supervision must ensure that the project does not fail in its infancy. So must it be so for the plans of the Indonesian Government. It must plan not just for the setting up of these cafes or other such programs, but must provide for their continued supervision and maintenance.
A demonstrable benefit to the public. No public sector initiative ca be successful unless it has a demonstrable benefit to the people it hopes to serve. The metro has cut both the travel time and cost for the city’s commuters and has significantly reduced congestion along it’s main arteries. The Indonesian Government must demonstrate to its population what higher level of integrity and honesty will mean for them, beyond just the moral aspect.
If these aspects are kept in mind and the Government is serious, honesty cafes may become the norm rather than the exception.
