Honesty, The (Un)Available Precious Thing in This Country

If we read or see the news about Indonesia nowadays, we will feel sorry. News of corruptions, killing people, hate speeches, and many other negatives things appeared. You name it by yourself.

Indonesia is a beautiful country. It has many magnificent tourism destinations. Physically, Indonesia has everything that most of the countries dream of. Unfortunately, there is one thing that Indonesia hardly achieves, one thing that is very important to make the country increase, not decrease.

Honesty is the precious thing which is still in a big question, available or unavailable in this +62 country. Maybe, it is a very strict statement. There are a few people who are honest in their doings, although the behaviors are not admired by most of the people.

There were three cases as the examples that showed the lack of honesty based on my experiences facing the life or from the people I know.

Fake "SK"

Amir (not a real name) told his experience that happened long time ago. "I never imagined that she could do such thing," he said emotionally.

Santi (pseudonym), the person who did that, is also a friend of mine, but I don't know much about her.

She did the awful thing by making the fake letter of her beginning time in working in her school. The purpose? She wanted to become a Civil Servant (Pegawai Negeri Sipil, the terminology before changed to Aparatur Sipil Negara).

"How could she do like that?" Amir continued, "She joined the institution in 2007. Because of the passing experience year at least 2005, she made the manipulation data, making "older" Surat Keterangan (SK) Mengajar become 2004!" Amir said.

"The principal let it happened. He insisted he didn't know the fact. I believed he supported what Santi had done," Amir closed the conversation by ending with this sentence.

In 2010, he protested to the principal about the dishonest activity that was done by Sinta. 

Amir resigned in 2013, three years after that, because he didn't like the situation and condition in the school anymore.

Amir works as an English teacher who teaches the students from one house to the other. Sinta was accepted as a civil servant although the city government found out the fakeness of Sinta's SK.

"So, there was no use to protest. Honesty is not the best policy in this country, " Amir expressed his confusion.

Teach to lie

"Donny got the score 32 for Natural Science Semester Exam. I was angry. He was actually lazy to study and he was also lazy to do all house duties," Lucy (pseudonym) said.

"In the afternoon at four, his father gave the permission to play outside to Donny. I was mad. Furious. I said, 'Why do you let Donny play outside? He's got a bad score in Natural Science Semester Exam! 

"You know what he said to Donny when Donny came back home because of my order? He said, 'It's okay. Don't worry, son. I also cheated in the examination of getting the lawyer license.

"Januar, my husband, didn't give advice to Donny in order that he studied hard for the next exams, but disastrous, he told our son that to be dishonest is all right. That's terrible!"

Four months lies

Talking about the other lie, this one is also bad.

Leo (not a real name) had taught his son, Donald (fake name) to lie to his mother about the ownership of smartphone.

Because of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the educations around the world, including Indonesia, had to use online learning. There was no option to learn offline.

Lani asked her husband, Leo, to lend his smartphone to Donald in order that their son could follow the online learnings every day.

"Why don't you lend your smartphone?" Leo asked.

"Of course I can't do that. I need my smartphone to get the informations from my boss and check the reports of transactions," Lani said, "I work in a bank. We need the gadget more than your profession."

After debating, finally, Leo agreed to lend his smartphone. Case closed. April until July 2020, there was nothing strange happened.

But, in August 2020, the 'secret', the lie was appeared.

Lani said to Bu Sinta (not a real name), the class teacher, that Donald could not attend the online class because Leo had to go to work as a lawyer. His husband needed a smartphone for his work.

But she was surprised when Bu Sinta said, "Donald is present in the Zoom, Ma'am."

After investigating, Lani got the fact that Leo bought the smartphone for their son, Donald, without the permission of Lani as his mother. Lani didn't agree at the first time when Leo told that he wants to buy a smartphone for Donald, because Lani didn't want Donald to become a lazy and game addicted person like their nephew, Tom. 

The fact was Leo broke his promise. Leo bought a smartphone for Donald in April 2022 and he warned their son not to tell the truth to Lani. And The lie was uncovered in August 2020

Four months lie.

How to be honest

To be honest in this wild world is not easy. There are many people who wear "masks" to hide their real faces. Lies spread like the atmosphere. It is difficult to differentiate between honest and dishonest.

So, in my opinion, there are three things that are very important to do to make the honesty real in this world.

1. Start from ourselves

It is useless to blame the others' mistakes. It wastes our time to complaint about how corrupt a few people in the government institutions.

We have to set an example to the others by starting from ourselves. Start to become honest. No matter there are many liars outside. Make the commitment to be honest in our entire lives.

Is it difficult?

Yes, it is very, very difficult. Maybe, it is the most difficult thing that we have ever faced. But if we want to make this world the better place to live on, we have to pay the "price". Efforts are not easy to be done, but they are worthy for the better future. 

Start from ourselves is the first start.

2. Start from the smallest thing

Don't think too big if we want to start, but start from the smallest thing, the easiest thing that we can do.

For example, if you are ordered by your mother to buy some apples and oranges in the supermarket, you will face the temptation to become honest or dishonest.

Your mother gave a hundred thousand rupiahs, and the price of the fruits is sixty thousand rupiahs. The temptation that you have to face, absolutely, are two options on the front: give the rest of the money, exactly forty thousand rupiahs to your mother; or lie to her, say the price is increased, eighty thousand rupiahs and the change is twenty thousand rupiahs, and you keep the rest twenty thousand rupiahs without the knowing of your mother.

Which one will you choose?

This is the easy test, but it is not as easy as it looks like. The small temptation as the first start before we move to the next level.

3. Be a doer, not only a speaker

"One action is louder than one statement."

I always believe with the sentence above. Sometimes (or maybe often) we talk too much, give many advices, but we do nothing as the examples to others.

Setting an example is the key point to become successful in this wild world which has many tricks and lies.

To become a doer is not easy to be reached, especially when there is nobody that supports around you. To be honest in action is not that simple as saying the "honest" word in utterance.

Doing the right thing is 'a must' in life. But unfortunately, maybe most of the human beings think that God is blind or He does not exist in every place. 

How about their bosses in this real world?

The bosses are also humans. To be indiscipline is easier to do because of the bosses unexistences.

Doer, doing the work honestly, do the best that we can do. Although there is no boss. Although there is no supervisor. Although there is no teacher.

Are you a doer or only a speaker of being honest?

You tell me.

* * *

Honesty, available or unavailable precious thing in this country?

Sure, it is available, but the percentage of the people to do the honesty, to apply it in the daily lives, are only a few.

Remember, the three things before is depend on you. You want to be honest or dishonest, it's your choice.