Large-scale corruptors conspiring in all elements of government, political parties, and community trigger ongoing conflicts and nation wide chaos. For instance, a controversy of Budi Gunawan’s appointment as chief of the National Police (Kapolri), which he is a suspect of corruption, has escalated a conflict between Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police. This issue grows a recent crucial national issue, according to Dr. H. Haedar Nashir, an observer and psychologist, as the result of corruptors’ interference overlooking ethics, moral, and truth.
Ethics as the principles of norms, values, and behaving control system, have been staked in the national chaos, indeed. Thus, people who are indifferent of ethics like corruptors could not distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate action.
The aforementioned statement was conveyed by Dr. H. Haedar Nashir as a speaker of Public Lecture and judicium of magister and doctorate programs of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY). This event had a topic of “Professional Ethics in Globalization”. This public lecture was organized by magister program of UMY, and was attended by 78 prospective Masters of UMY. It took place in the main meeting hall of A.R. Fachruddin A Floor 5 UMY on Friday (13/2).
Haedar maintained that values of right-wrong, goodness-badness, and appropriateness-inappropriateness were not strong consideration and tended to be neglected in behaving. These considerable values turned superficial and fell down on the lowest point. “It seems that there are a few good people while it is getting greater the number of bad people. Moreover, protests supporting corruptors become common matter. This chaos reminds me of a poet Ronggowarsito in a letter of Katalatida regarding “zaman edan” (“crazy era”). It is an era that people are getting insane and they would get nothing if they are not doing so. Everybody, ultimately, grows greedy,” he explained.
The Chief of Muhammadiyah also highlighted professional group that only focused on instrumental ability, were smart instinct in pursuing their carrier and personal mobility, but had feeble moral and ethic. “Many people are smart and have high position but they are greedy and hedonistic so that their knowledge and position are not beneficial for others. They obviously recognize people’s rights but they are not good at performing their obligations. It is getting unrecognizable the main dimension of morals, responsibility, and life values. It could be noticed from corruptors’ cases. In fact, their salary and all they need are adequate without corrupting. Nevertheless, since they have been getting greedy and mad about this life, they would receive whatever and how much it is due to the straitened feeling,” he emphasized.
Additionally, Haedar elucidated that, if the life of Indonesian is discerned by the number of developments, it is confronted with crucial issues at the same time. Corruption, bribe, money laundering, gratification, violence, money politics, untruth, deceit, and demoralization become common matter. Life orientation extolling materialism, hedonism, pragmatism, and position turns mindset and life practice against religious and cultural moral values.
Hence, Haedar continued, in these circumstance people who are good, knowledgeable, and have great mind should exist to raise community awareness of life orientation on the foremost ethics. “Through the virtues, people having knowledge and moral ought to enlighten human beings from darkness to the lightness. Enlightened and enlightening people would choose respectable life rather than be successful but compatible and scornful of themselves.
