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likablog2 · 11 months

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Exploring the dimensions of Denny Ja’s selected work 43: he died but alive

On August 17, 2023, Indonesia celebrated the 78th Independence Day. However, in the same year, there is another celebration that is no less important for the Indonesian literary world. The celebration was the 43rd anniversary of Denny JA’s elected work entitled “He Died But Life”. This work became an important milestone in the long journey of this talented writer, and succeeded in arouse the reader’s feelings with a storyline full of emotions and life. “He died but alive” is a fiction essay poem that tells the story of the struggle of a man named Rizky, who had a serious car accident. Even though his body was in a state of coma, his soul and mind remained alive and awakened in another world. In this dimension, Rizky met a variety of characters and events that opened his eyes to the true meaning of life. In Rizky’s journey through this dimension, Denny JA succeeded in presenting a strong picture of life and the meaning of existence. Through unique characteristics and interesting events, readers are invited to think about the importance of respecting every life moment, although sometimes we feel trapped in everyday routine. One of the most impressive moments in this essay poem was when Rizky met a child who suffered a severe illness. Despite living in suffering, the child still has extraordinary enthusiasm and happiness. Through this character, Denny JA reminds us of the power of determination and courage in dealing with life obstacles. Not only through a strong story, Denny Ja also uses a unique and creative writing style in “he dies but alive”. He uses simple language but full of imagination and evocative metaphors. This makes this essay poem an interesting work and touch the hearts of the reader. In addition, Denny Ja also succeeded in creating a very typical atmosphere in this essay poem. A detailed description of the alternative dimensions faced by Rizky makes the reader as if to feel the mysterious and magical atmosphere in this story. It was as if we were beside Rizky, exploring dimensions full of life and meaning. “He died but alive” also has a very deep moral message. Denny Ja wants to remind us that life is short, and every moment we have is very valuable. He also invited the reader to appreciate and love the people around us, and live life with enthusiasm and gratitude. This work not only received appreciation from literary critics, but also managed to get a place in the hearts of the readers. Many feel inspired and connected to the stories and messages delivered by Denny Ja through “he died but alive”. This essay poem even managed to become one of the best -selling works this year. Denny Ja’s long journey as a writer continues to develop with his latest work. However, “he died but alive” will always be one of the most memorable and meaningful works in his career. This work has made his name in the history of Indonesian literature, and he deserves recognition of expertise and courage in telling this extraordinary story. With “he died but alive”, Denny Ja has proven that literature is not just a word on paper.

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kavout-blog · 7 years

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What if corruption cost Kurdish independence?

First of all, let’s focus on the latest events in the region where the Kurds live. In the past couple of years, the Kurdish people have been under the spotlights for fighting against Daesh. They are indeed fierce fighters, have been in a difficult situation with the central governments controlling them (Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria) and had many casualties in the last several wars. It was even un-hoped for that a Kurdish would have had the audacity to go through a referendum for a potential independency. The people living in the Kurdish region of Iraq pay the price of the “yes” for independency. Besides the reality on the ground and the political game in the Middle-East where no ally would have supported it, there are factors, which Barzani undermined or underestimated. It seems now that it was a “bluff” and the other players disclosed it. Poor governance in the region has lead to chaos after the inaction of the leaders the following days of the referendum. Kurdish leaders have indeed undermined the importance economic and political stability on a negotiation towards independency.

Second, none of the main international organizations such as the UN, the OECD or even the Council of Europe defines the word “corruption”. Instead they establish “the offences for a range of corrupt behaviour”[1]. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on a definition; the most common one points out corrupt activities as “abuse of public or private office for personal gain”[2].

Persistency of corruption in Kurdistan is one of the main concerns for its citizens: 77%. Besides, it remains the highest priority for them. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report[3] in January 2013, 3.7%[4] of people in Kurdistan who interacted with civil servants paid a bribe[5](against 29% in the rest of Iraq). Moreover, 4.3% of civil servants are exposed to bribery in Kurdistan.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), although the level of corruption is lower in Kurdistan Region than in Iraq, it remains “high by international standards”[6]. Transparency International[7], an NGO focused on fighting corruption in the world, studied Financial Times’ list of the 10 fastest growing countries in 2013. For each country in that list, the NGO analyzed its level of corruption with its growth rate. Transparency international concluded that growth would have been even higher and more sustainable if the corruption rate was lower. To summarize, corruption is a source of “long-term instability”[8].

Last January when I was in Dohuk (Kurdistan Region of Irak), I heard on the news that approximately 60,000 civil servants living Kurdish areas did not get their salary. What is astonishing is not the fact that a government (Bagdad) is not paying its employees – it is a routine in Iraq- but the fact that they were all working for the Iraqi Railways. You did not know that there was a rail network, well no Iraqi citizens did.

Besides, corruption also has a sociological impact. The loss of hope on future for new generations will also have a negative impact on entrepreneurship, innovations, etc. The UNODC goes even further by declaring that not only “corruption undermines democratic institutions” but also “slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability”[9]. As a result, “foreign investment is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to overcome the “start-up costs” required”.

We can use France as an example, although it is a recognized democracy. In 2013 October, the 19th, Mediapart[10], a French online newspaper, held a conference titled “Corruption, it is enough!” since it is a major concern[11] for French citizens[12]. As a matter of fact, Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President, is allegedly involved in several different judicial cases[13] of financial fraud.

That conference was the first of its kind and gathered many distinguished guests: magistrates, lawyers, economists, sociologists, policemen, etc. The main reason that corruption exists in countries like France as well as Kurdistan Region is that judicial institutions are not provided with adequate tools to fight it. To do so, first, judicial power has to be independent[14], which is not the case in Kurdistan since political parties control it. Pierre Lascoumes[15], a sociologist, noticed that ignorance and indifference for corrupted behaviour are very present among politicians and businessmen. Therefore, he listed two solutions. He blamed business school for not teaching and training their students to ethical behaviour in business. The government should pressure them to teach business ethics in their program. Political parties also have a major responsibility, according to Pierre. They should have a greater selection for their candidates and train them.

You’ll ask me then: what is the link between corruption and independence then?

To be able to reach a political independence you need a strong or rather stable and sustainable economic development. The Catalans have understood it quite well. The governance needs to be good enough as well.

Before 2014, the growth rate was high and the purchasing power was increasing. In the EIU report in May 2014, the KRG’s score on “the Business Environment Index is 5.10/10, which is equivalent to a rank of 57th out of 83 countries”[16].This rank is quite respectable since it is “just ahead of Indonesia”. However, the weakest areas of Kurdistan region are located in “labour market, infrastructure, and financing conditions”. “Financing is Kurdistan’s weakest area since it is ranked 78th even behind Iraq (66th). Banks are reluctant to lend to businesses”[17]..

The main problem though is that according to the same report, “the level of corruption is still high by international standards and perceptions of corruption were one of the catalysts for protests in the KRG in 2011. » Furthermore, « even if the true level of nepotism is lower than it is perceived to be, this is an issue that the KRG needs to address through increased transparency in areas like the contracting process, in order to minimise perceptions of bias that might discourage new firms from investing. »

These two weaknesses combined were already back in 2013 prior to Daesh’s attacks a concerned for western countries, the main supporters of the Kurdish military forces in the war. The West has been criticised repeatedly for interfering in the Middle-East (Iraq invasion in 2003) or the support of former dictators such as Moubarak for example for national interests. It was obvious that none of the western political leaders would have supported a Kurdish independency but they would not have rejected contrary to what happened. The poor economic and political governance (even if Bagdad gives the Kurdish region its rightful share of the budget) reveals the incapacity of the Kurdish people to rule itself. They are deeply divided in the region, even the military forces are party controlled ones.

The region has also a $17bn[18] in debt for a near 5.5 million in a territory approximately as big as Swtizerland. The debt has increased since 2014 because of the drop of oil price. The unemployment rate is at 14% in 2016, according to the Ministry of Planning in 2016. As for the public sector, « the exact number of people working for the public sector is unclear, but it is estimated by some observers to be as high as 1.2m[19]».

It is obvious that remaining in Iraq will not help Erbil to eradicate corruption but the risks were too many (the total control of Iran in Iraq) for the West, and the compensations not enough to allow it to happened. The Kurds were too dependent on their western allies and did not realize it. Eventually, the costs of the referendum are quite terrible to pay for the population: the loss of trust of any current political leader, the increasing discontent of the weak governance, the economic and political isolation they are in, the endemic corruption despite the economic recession, the nepotism…

[1] “Corruption: A Glossary of International Standards in Criminal Law “, OECD, 2008, p 22

[2] “Corruption: A Glossary of International Standards in Criminal Law “, OECD, 2008, p 22

[3]“Corruption and Integrity in the public sectors in Iraq”, UNODC, January 2013, p10

[4] “The data used in this study are derived from three different sources:

1. ICS Survey 2011: the sample survey on Working Conditions, Job Satisfaction and Integrity of Civil Servants of Iraq (ICS Survey) was implemented by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region Statistical Office (KRSO), with the assistance of UNODC and UNDP, during July-August 2011.7 This survey covered 33 ministries/institutions in the Federal Government (FG) and 22 ministries/institutions in the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG).8 In total, more than 31,000 civil servants took part in the survey: a large sample distributed over the entire country and representative of 1,867,000 public servants in 55 institutions (see Methodological Annex for technical details). This survey provides information on working conditions, recruitment practices, motivation, job satisfaction, management schemes, experience of bribery, reporting of corruption and related perceptions.

2. IKN Survey 2011: the Iraq Knowledge Network Survey (IKN) was conducted in 2011 by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region Statistical Office (KRSO), with the assistance of United Nations agencies. 9 The survey covered all Governorates of Iraq and a random sample of roughly 29,000 households was interviewed. This survey included a module on governance, which also collected data on prevalence and forms of bribery faced by the population, reporting practices and perceptions about corruption (see Methodological Annex for technical details).

3. CoI Administrative Dataset on Corruption: administrative data on the criminal justice process relating to corruption cases over the period 2006-2011 were provided by the leading anti-corruption body in Iraq, the Commission of Integrity (CoI). The data provide a comprehensive statistical picture of the criminal justice response to corruption, from the number and type of corruption cases initially reported to authorities and those passing to the investigation phase to the number and type of judicial sentences. These data are analyzed to gain insights on the progress made in the fight against corruption as well as on challenges remaining and areas for improvement.” “Corruption and Integrity in the public sectors in Iraq”, UNODC, January 2013, p14

[5] “Bribery is defined in article 15 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption as (a) the promise, offering or giving to a public official, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage, for the official himself or herself or another person or entity, in order that the official act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties and (b) as the solicitation or acceptance by a public official, directly or indirectly of an undue advantage, for the official himself or herself or another person or entity, in order that the official act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties”. “Corruption and Integrity in the public sectors in Iraq”, UNODC, January 2013, p18

[6] “Benchmarking the Kurdistan Region”, EIU, May 2014, p29

[7] It is an NGO created in 1993 based in New York: http://www.transparency.org/whoweare/organisation

[8]http://blog.transparency.org/2013/07/09/bribery-blocks-the-potential-of-emerging-economies/

[9]http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/index.html?ref=menuside

[10]Mediapart was created in 2008 funded by only its readers to keep its independence. http://world.time.com/2013/04/05/mediapart-meet-the-upstart-journalists-shaking-up-french-politics/

[11] “Corruption represents 80 billion euros per year of loss for France”, “Corruption” Antoine Peillon, 2014.

[12] 66% of the French think that corruption has increased from 2007-2010. http://www.transparency.org/country#FRA_PublicOpinion

[13]http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2014/03/19/six-affaires-qui-menacent-nicolas-sarkozy_4385871_4355770.html

[14]The Montesquieu doctrine of the separation of power in between Executive, Legislative and Judiciary

[15] “Sociologie des Elites délinquantes”,2014, Pierre Lascoumes.

[16] “Benchmarking the Kurdistan Region”, EIU, May 2014, p31

[17] “Benchmarking the Kurdistan Region”, EIU, May 2014, p42

[18] https://www.ft.com/content/0d592a0a-a388-11e7-9e4f-7f5e6a7c98a2

[19] “Benchmarking the Kurdistan Region”, EIU, May 2014, p45

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