Jonathan Stray & Nivell Rayda

Bibit Samad Rianto launching his book, "Corrupter Go to Hell" in Jakarta. (JG Photo/Jonathan Stray)

Indonesia Graft Fighter Bibit Tells Corruptors Where to Go in New Book

Just days after his triumphant return as a deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Bibit Samad Rianto added another milestone to his long career on Wednesday with the launch of his book, “Corruptor Go to Hell.”

The 176-page book features an analysis of what made corruption so rampant in Indonesia, including the root cause of graft, the way graft is conducted, areas prone to corruption and the means of eradicating it.

“The book dissects the anatomy of corruption in Indonesia — how corruptive behavior occurs and how corruption became part of the culture here,” said Deden Ridwan, the chief executive of Hikmah Publishing, which published the book.

Sri Edi Suwarsono, a prominent economic analyst from the University of Indonesia, said the book must live up to its title. “Indonesia is a haven for corrupt officials. So by calling the book ‘Corruptors Go to Hell,’ Bibit had a very arduous task ahead,” he said.

In some parts of the book, the writing is almost poetic: “The Japanese say that fishes rot starting with their head. A public official is the head of the fish, and the organization that he leads is the body. So imagine a government organization being led by a corrupt official.”

Though the publisher said the book was not intended to serve as a textbook, Bibit devoted some pages to criminal codes that categorize corruption offenses.

Bibit said the original title of the book was “Anatomy of Corruption in Indonesia,” which is now the subtitle. “The publisher didn’t think it was catchy enough, so I trusted them and went along with it,” he said at the launch.

Deden feels the book would be successful if it got people talking about corruption.

“The point of this book is to get people talking and start a discussion,” he said. “The book has a very important message to convey, which is about eliminating the corruption that has plagued the nation.”

Bibit began writing the book two years ago when he became deputy chairman of the commission, also known as the KPK, but it was not until he was suspended in September that he found time to finish it.

The first draft of the book was edited and published in just two weeks, to coincide with the hype surrounding his reinstatement.

Wednesday evening’s launch was promoted on the Facebook support page for Bibit and fellow antigraft deputy Chandra Hamzah, and around 200 enthusiastic members attended the event at the Sultan Hotel. Among them were several prominent politicians and legal experts, such as Adnan Buyung Nasution and Todung Mulya Lubis.

Your View

See Result