In Reply to: Agree posted by swifty on Friday, 5. November 2004 at 19:35 Bali Time:
there's a fly on pappy's head.
That's the actual title of a country and western song, and I think it sums up your proposed solution.
Whoever runs the protection rackets in various parts of Bali, whether it's the police, the military, or independent gangs, would still demand payoffs from the businesses, and still inflict damage if they didn't get it.
The clerks at the vehicle registrations bureau would still seek an extra payment to get a licence processed. The sugar smugglers are still going to be landing their boats on the shores of Sumatra. The pesantren (sp?) are still going to sell their guns and say they were stolen. The police are still going to demand 5000rp from every prostitute (even if they have retired and are now married) in Kuta.
There's a bunch of currupt practices that have nothing to do with the tourism industry. There's no need to pressure the government into doing something about it, because SBY is already enacting changes, and should be given a chance to see if it works. Whatever steps are taken, it's going to take a long long time. Transparency in government will help. So will dobbing in someone who is corrupt.
Someone posted about a certain unmentionable site here a while ago and the thread was deleted. Apparently the dudes running the site have a history of making trouble, but I thought it was at least useful in that it listed all the hotels/business owned by Suharto, the greatest of all corrupt dictators, and allowed people to post their experiences of corruption (as well as general bad practices/service) on their forums. (I was hoping this thread wouln't be deleted just because I mentioned this site... as it turns out, I can't post this message without deleting the name... whoo hooo... go, you upholders of democracy... reign on, Ministry of Information. Come to think of it, the last time I posted about corruption, the thread was deleted too.)
In other words, why boycott an entire nation or island, when you can do a little bit of research and boycott individual businesses, and help honest businesses prosper. And since many businesses are victims of corruption, as opposed to perpetrators, why make them suffer doubly?
Yes, some things, like the police force wage system, can only be made better through government legislation and enforcement. Same with kickbacks from business deals, and conflicts of interest for politicians who own businesses (was Megawati really going to cut the fuel subsidy when she owns a chain of petrol stations?). But reform has already begun with the appointment of a new (and highly regarded) chief justice to head the anti-corruption court. We can help by reporting cases to the relevant department when we see them, and by spreading the word to other travellers.