It Is Necessary To Learn From Jurgen Klopp Who Does Not Comment Beyond His Competence

JAKARTA - Liverpool FC coach Jurgen Klopp is considered positive after refusing to comment on the spread of the COVID-19 virus, especially its effect on the club he coaches. What this Klopp is doing seems to be turning around with officials in this country.

In a video uploaded by the Twitter account @ndorokakung, the German coach declined to comment when a journalist asked whether the COVID-19 virus had an effect on his club. According to Klopp, he did not want to answer this because he did not have the capacity.

This video is currently viral. A good example of how narcissus deals with journalists' questions about Covid-19. If you are not an expert, you don't need to answer. Artists, officials, anyone who is not a medical expert, for example, Mr. Jurgen Klopp ... pic.twitter.com/VqqxOPXYrN

- Wicaksono 🇮🇩 (@ndorokakung) March 4, 2020

In addition, he believes that not all public figures like him can answer things that they do not even understand.

"Not a football manager like me (to speak). I don't understand. Politics, the corona virus, why should I (make a statement)," Klopp said in a broadcast watched by VOI on Thursday, March 5.

Klopp's response is far different from what is done by officials or public figures in Indonesia. In Indonesia, when President Joko Widodo announced the first case of the spread of COVID-19, a number of officials and public figures competed to make statements.

For example, Governor Anies Baswedan stated that the people of Jakarta should not come to the place where the COVID-19 spread was started and stop the crowd permit. Achmad Yurianto, a spokesperson for handling COVID-19, denied Anies's statement.

"Regarding corona-prone areas, Jakarta does not exist. We do not have a list of areas prone to corona," he said at the Ministry of Health's Office, Jalan Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, Wednesday, March 4.

Yuri said that the transmission of this virus basically does not come from a place but from person to person. So, there is no reason for the Ministry of Health to list the areas prone to COVID-19 in Jakarta.

"This corona does not work alone. It is in people's bodies. So the corona-prone area is actually at RSPI Sulianti Saroso. So don't wander there," he said.

Apart from Anies, there is also Acting Regent of Cianjur, Herman Suherman, who in a video stated that a citizen has COVID-19. Worse, he even disclosed the patient's personal data until it was finally deemed to violate the code of ethics.

In fact, when the patient died, the public immediately assumed that the man who had just returned from Malaysia had died from the virus. Even though after being investigated by the Ministry of Health, not a single specimen from Cianjur, West Java was positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Reflecting on the blunders of a number of our officials' words, maybe it is time to learn to stop their statements when they feel that is not their capacity. However, this seems difficult. This is because a political observer from Al-Azhar University Indonesia, Ujang Komarudin, assessed that public officials who want to comment on anything are usually looking for a stage because there is momentum to appear.

"Every official needs momentum to be able to show charm and image in front of the public and get attention," he said when contacted by VOI, Thursday, March 5.

Meanwhile, public policy analyst Trubus Rahadiansyah believes that any political official or public figure must protect his statement so that there is no misinformation in the delivery of information.

"There is such a thing as public responsibility, so an official may not speak beyond his / her authority," said Trubus.

According to him, all information related to the spread of this virus should be carried out by the authorities, in this case the Ministry of Health and the spokesperson for handling COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto.

He also encouraged Jokowi to immediately issue a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) so that only authorized institutions would comment. "So if people don't have the capacity, they can't talk," he said.

"But if the impact of corona on the economy, yes it is allowed, the relevant ministries talk. The problem is that everyone is talking about corona at the moment. So the distribution is clear," added Trubus.

In addition to public officials having to exercise restraint, Trubus also reminded the media to start sorting out the sources they will interview regarding COVID-19. The media should be able to find sources who are competent in their fields.

"For officials, deputies, which party people are actually unnecessary if they are not related. Members of the DPR RI are the same, except for members of Commission IX (which is in charge of health), they may be asked for comments because of their capacity," he said.

The reason is, if the media arbitrarily select sources and public officials talk carelessly, what will happen is distrust in the community and cause panic. In addition, the potential for misinformation can also occur when incompetent officials express their opinions.