Jakarta – It hurts to see Indonesia being tagged as the most corrupt nation in Asia, said President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday while calling on Indonesians to work hard to shed the image.

She was referring to a poll, based on a survey of 1,000 expatriate businessmen working in Asia, which listed the country as the most corrupt in Asia. It was released by the Singapore-based Political Economic Risk Consultancy earlier this month.

"No matter whether the results of the survey are correct or not, it really does hurt and makes me really concerned," Ms Megawati said in a speech at a ceremony to mark the 29th anniversary of her Indonesian Democracy Party for Struggle (PDI-P). "We have to end this situation and we should enforce the law," she said in Semarang, Central Java.

She said a belief that law and justice could be bent by money and power was one of the main reasons enabling corruption to flourish. Justice should be equally applied to everyone, she added.