Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy.

I found this word last night on my friend’s blog. He is an lecturer who teach in a private university far away in North Sumatera. Yesterday I casually looked for his blog and found his newly published article title “Hypocrisy”. He implicitly wrote about problems that affect his life lately. I don’t know what the problem really was, but I guess it was related with his work mate and surrounding.

After read about his not-so-long article, I felt curious. I took my Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary. Try to make sure the definition of hypocrisy, “making oneself appear better than one really is”. I was not satisfied. I tried to search it more through the online Indonesian Dictionary at google. It was said “berpura-pura” or “munafik”.

Then I try to visualize what my friend trying to express through his writing. Somedays on the last month, he made a status on Facebook, “after all this world is just like a theater for everyone to play their role.” I tried to ask him via direct message about what has happened. He said he has a big disappointment, but couldn’t tell me at the time. 

Now, I’m glad that he has written about it. There are two reasons. First, keeping a problem (without being able to share it with other) for quite long time will make a person being sick and sicker. Second, writing is a therapy. Writing feelings gradually eases emotional trauma. I hope that he could feel better after trying to write his unspoken problems. 

Now, what I’m going to say more is that his writing somehow gives inspiration to me. Driving by the curiosity, I keep searching the other article related with hypocrisy. I found another blog owned by a guy from Malang. That guy quoted Pramoedya Ananta Toer, a well-known author from Indonesia, who said “bangsa ini hipokrit” on his book. Then he began to describe through Toer’s analysis that Indonesian are hypocrite because of colonial effect. 

I tried to contemplate and remember my job in a slimming therapy center. The first month I work there, I really want to quit the job. Why? Because I realized my job was really contrary with myself. I began to train myself to be a hypocrite person. I have to be able smile nicely, very friendly, especially to those who are potential to be our customer. When I try to make a phone call and ask them to buy our treatment, I have to be able to steal their heart so they would like to give millions of money for us. 

I didn’t like doing that. Day by day I felt more disappointed about myself. But I have to do that, because it was my job. Everybody also did the same. My bosses, my colleagues. It was quite long for me to be able to quit from that situation. I sought a job where I could earn money without being hypocrite. I didn’t choose to be PNS even tough my parents pushed me, because I found many of PNS are so very hypocrite. I choose to be journalist, since at the time I thought it’s an ideal job where I could work independently and don’t need to be a hypocrite. 

To shorten this story, did I found this i-wish-to-be-an-ideal-job was really far from hypocrite human being? No, not at all. Sadly, I also found pretty hypocrite people in this field of job. There are many bosses of media who always ask their worker to not take any bribes while they took it. Yes they do not take pity money, but snatch the big number of rupiah or dollars or in other form such as five star hotels, business class or jet plane, shopping abroad, or company’s share. 

How can we produce any independent news if we have given our nose to the stakeholder? Of course it will be hard, for not saying impossible. Then all things are just lip services. There is no more a really-free-of-interests journalism. And even worse, they using people, I mean their reporter for their own interests. These things made me feel disappointed. So if you hope that media are all honest and far from hypocrisy, think bout it again. 

From my cases, I think that people being hypocrite because we have too many desires and can’t control them. A person who is not hypocritical at first could be hypocritical if he let himself drawn in a system. Why he’s not just drawn himself out of it? Well, this is not as easy as saying, especially if he let himself being trapped in his own desires of goods or prosperity.  

Let me give examples. When I really want to work as an honest and independent journalist, I can firmly reject the money given to me. Hundreds or millions of rupiah, I never think twice to say no. I’m happy to do that because I think I could keep my integrity. But, now days, I must be honest that rejecting bribes sometimes leave me in a contrary thought. A half of myself still want to keep my integrity, but there is another half that begin to think “taking that would not being a big problem because your friend or your boss also do the same” or “I need money now to buy a, b, c and d” or “If I didn’t take this, the other will”. Of course, maintaining the integrity will getting harder when thought like this come to me. 

Well, hypocrisy of course not just related with money. It’s just a simple sample. Many other advantageous like a fine grade at school, a promotion at work, or social recognition. These could make someone being hypocrite, realized or not. I didn’t say this to justify this hypocritical mental. But we can easily find people who act differently from their real character in any kind social living.

So now, it back to us, whether we choose to be a hypocrite or not. There’s always a choice, of course with it’s own risk. I think, keeping the real character (or being a hypocrite human being) will be depend on how strong you can keep the integrity. And if you choose to retain integrity and don’t wanna get drawn in this hypocritical-social-mental, please underline that your way IS NOT GONNA BE EASY. You will find disappointment by disappointment.

But, I’m still curious to know, is this social mental are adopted by Indonesian people, as Toer’s said, as the effect of colonialism? Do people in other country  also have the same? Well, I wish there is a more scientific explanation, maybe from social psychology, about this habit / character and how to decrease that. Maybe there is way to eliminate or decrease this social mental sickness. I don’t know.