Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu and Good Morning...
First
of all, I would like to say my gratitude to Allah SWT who has given us bless
and health so that we can get together in this place right now.
I am
standing here not as an important person and not to teach you. But I will
persuade you through my speech about decreasing the rate of corruption through
implementation of honesty in early age.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before I talk about corruption and honesty, let’s know the meaning of
corruption and honesty. Based on the Lexicon Webster Dictionary, corruption meaning
depravity, dishonesty, immoral and deviation of holiness. Corruption from
literal sense meaning taking or stealing the right that are not ours to take
advantage of the position and deliberately and clandestinely. Many children
understand a definition of honesty to be "don't lie". But a complete
definition of honesty also means that an honest person doesn't do things that
are morally wrong. If something you do is breaking the law or you have to hide
it because you'll get in trouble, you are probably not being honest. Can you
imagine that we have to live the life without honesty? I believe there will be
no goodness at all. And the corruption will increase.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
I believe that corruption
and honesty have a close relationship. Many of the government officials said
that their honest, but then they take people’s money. For example, the case of Gayus Tambunan, Bank Century
scandal, Nazaruddin who was implicated in a scandal involving the construction
of athletes' dormitories for Southeast Asia Games, BLBI embezzlement, Hambalang
and more cases. Untill now, 155 cases of corruption involving the head area.
Meanwhile, KPK (Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission )completed 37 cases of 155 cases.
There are some
types of corruption, including bribes, embezzlement in office, extortion in
office and political scandal. The
root of all of these problems is dishonesty, which has made our country is
getting worse. We should not imitate any of them.
Indonesia should
be proud as a nation that has a diversity of ethnic, religious, and cultural.
Proud because was awarded the charming natural beauty. But, did you know? according to
Transparency International, Indonesia ranked 100 of 183 countries in the 2011
Corruption Perceptions Index. And ironically, many various ways that have
been taken, have not seen a good change from the condition of this country. So
what can we do for this country ?
Ladies and gentlemen,
We as
the young generation should do something that can make our country to be better
in everyway, including being honest.
Against a daily backdrop of
corruption news and trials, several city schools have developed a values
program to shape anti-corruption minds among their students. Several years ago,
"honesty canteens" were introduced to allow students to buy food at
unattended food stalls. Students are expected to be honest in paying and taking
change from a money box. As a student, I
am very excited about this program. And I hope it really can teach us to be
honest people.
There are many ways we can do to
learn to be honest. The first is telling the truth. Sometimes when we talk to
our parents, our teachers, or our friends; we tell a lie. But, let’s we start
from the simplest way, try to say something true everytime we talk to the
others. The second is keeping promises. If you promise to clean your room or
help a friend with homework and don't follow through, then the promise is a
lie. By keeping your promises, you build a reputation as an honest person who
others can count on. The third is taking responsibility. Everybody makes
mistakes or poor choices on occasion. But part of being honest is admitting
when you've done wrong or caused a problem. The Momilani Library advises that
honesty means owning up to your responsibility rather than blaming someone else
or lying about it to cover your tracks.
Ladies and
gentlemen,
All in all, Being honest means
choosing not to lie, steal, cheat, or deceive in any way. When we are honest,
we build strength of character that will allow us to be of great service to God
and to others. We as the young generation will build the future Indonesia. It
means that we have to fix all the problems. And one of the biggest problem is
corruption. Probably we couldn’t stop it directly, but at least we can decrease
it. Let’s say No to corruption and say
Yes to honesty!