This is the cry of those people who seek to justify their self-serving holidays and other interests (such as property ownership) in Bali; “Everywhere in the world is corrupt so why should people boycott Bali?”.

No doubt there is corruption almost everywhere but to what level? Comparing Indonesia with its routine human rights abuse born from corruption (this includes state sponsored murder, knowingly imprisoning innocent people and child rape / prostitution in brothels owned by Indonesian police officers) and that of corruption or perhaps fraud in other countries where favours can sometimes be bought is hardly a fair comparison, is it?! It is like saying illness exists all over when talking about H5N1 bird flu. Just because the common cold exists in Norway, you wouldn't come out with or listen to this sort of "wobble" then, so why do so regarding "corruption"?

For a list of crimes against humanity we believe the Indonesian authorities have committed and which have been substantially proven, please visit our page: Boycott Bali.

How corrupt is Indonesia?

Bali BS believes Indonesia is the most corrupt country in the world. We say this based on the following;

1) People often confuse fraud and corruption. In context “Fraud” means “An intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of obtaining some valuable thing or promise from another” while “Corruption” means “The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.” The difference being fraud is solely for gain, while corruption is also for gain but involves inhumanity and loss beyond the amount unlawfully gained. A bank manager who makes of with 10 million dollars of the bank’s money by fiddling the books where the loss is absorbed is fraud. An education minister who accepts a bribe to award a contract to a particular vendor who then goes on to provide much less quality or quantity wise than specified in the tender and the educational expense of the children is corruption.

2) Transparency International is the most respected reporter of what is called “Corruption Perception”; the perceived ranking of each country corruption wise. Corruption clearly can not be accurately monitored and therefore measured because of its very nature. So perception values are asked of knowledgeable business people and country analysts, both resident and non-resident. Indonesia is ranked (2004) as one of the most corrupt countries generally in the world with a ranking (the lower the worst) of just 2.0 (just literally ahead of countries like Myanmar, Nigeria and Haiti); by comparison neighboring Singapore scored 9.3. If you would like to calculate what this means to the Indonesian people (how much money each and every man, woman and child loses through the difference between these two corruption levels) there is a formula provided by the International Monetary Fund (see report: Indonesian Corruption Cost); the result should stagger any decent human being and illustrate exactly why the Indonesian masses are so poor.

3) Bali BS believes hard evidence shows Indonesia is actually much more corrupt in the all important area of their judiciary and police than Transparency International’s surveys uncover because of the fact foreign governments seem to pander to Indonesia’s false claims to be combating corruption (see report: KPK Indonesia) which creates the appearance of a more favorable situation than really exists. Plus we question whether everything which is measured as corruption really is; Bali BS has seen “Fraud” and “Graft” too often included in surveys on corruption. When Transparency International last, we believe, conducted a survey which showed the all important judicial corruption (true corruption and one which by default equates to human and civil rights abuse), Indonesia came second from the bottom. Since that time, it appears the bottom country Peru has become less corrupt while other credible sources show Indonesia has sunk further into corruption.

So please, don’t listen to or try to justify selfish needs with generic retorts. Do yourself and the Balinese / Indonesians a favour, boycott Bali / Indonesia. But don’t just boycott them, let them know so they also know it is time for them to do something about the problem, see Boycott Bali for details.

.