Tempting Perks
As we reflect on last month’s civil unrest, it would be tempting to interpret the excessive increase in lawmakers’ housing allowance as the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The fact that perks for national lawmakers is also get reduplicate by regional lawmakers [DPRD]. [Also] The fact that so many local government buildings were torched and attacked because of stupid policies and remarks made in Jakarta should at least spark calls for deeper decentralization We could then admit that things have gotten out of hand a bit, promise to undo the perks “ASAP”, “crack down” on corruption and provide a “helping hand” to those in need. We might also remind our elected officials, once more, to dispense with ostentatious displays of wealth.
Finally, we would appeal to everyone to keep the peace, and everything would be right as rain again. But it is not that simple. The eruption of violence shocked the country, because many failed to recognize how much pressure had been building beneath the surface.
[peace protesters arrested by Indonesian police is under torture, very small portion of food in custody]
Prabowo seems to underestimate the gravity of the problems he’s facing. He’s making policy like someone who just suffered a cardiac arrest but decides to drink Tolak Angin and get a coining massage, believing it’s just a common cold. Nothing drives people into unnecessary and costly strategic errors like a deep-seated sense of insecurity.
Now we know that the perks were not the final straw. They were the match thrown onto the piled-up bales of straw. On other hand, giving sweeping asset seizure powers [looting multiple national lawmakers] to corrupt law enforcers is like handing the keys of a sports car to a reckless drunk teenager. That's how you get fatal car crashes on the highway. I say fix the institutions first, and then change the law.
Prabowo administration is bungling its communication by accusing a group of sedition without naming it, leaving all protesters feeling targeted. But this communication blunder stems from a deeper intelligence failure. If it’s true that a non-state actor exploited the unrest to launch violent attacks, burning government buildings and targeting senior officials, and intelligence failed to intercept or prevent them, then this is a massive intelligence failure.
A spark is only dangerous if there is flammable material around. In Indonesia, like in other countries, that material is a deep-seated sense of injustice. Unless properly addressed, even relatively minor issues can ignite social strife again. Perhaps more than ever, the world is a rat race won by those adroit at spotting opportunities and adapting first to new trends and technology. Many are left behind because they lack resources, skills or shrewdness.
The fact that some are privileged enough to get a head start, such as through an expensive education abroad, only adds insult to injury. GDP growth, the poverty rate and even the Gini coefficient for income distribution have all been moving in the right direction lately, for which the government deserves credit, but macroeconomic statistics will not mollify those who feel the system has failed them.
We have a problem as a society, as a country, when hard work alone is often unrewarding, so that many feel like the ladder of opportunity has been pulled up and they cannot even reach the bottom rung, no matter how much sweat and grit they put into it.
Being in a tight spot financially today is one thing, but for a young person to see themselves remaining in that place for the next six or seven decades, is quite another. That sentiment, more than the self-entitlement of some lawmakers, is what saw buildings and vehicles torched in Jakarta and elsewhere.
That is no excuse for violence, but it is certainly a causal factor that should have been dealt with long before we got to this point.
The government is right to undo the allowance hike, but addressing that sense of hopelessness is much harder and will require structural changes to ensure upward mobility. Employment is obviously a primary concern. While the official unemployment rate has dropped, millions of Indonesians are underemployed, including many of those who took to the streets last month.
Furthermore, almost 60 percent of Indonesian workers are employed in the informal sector, which generally means less job security and social security. While it is easier said than done, the government must make formal hiring more appealing for employers while cracking down on firms that maintain informal work arrangements when they could be formalizing them. That also means labor unions will need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of society as a whole rather than focusing on their members, because the more demands we put on formal employment, the more businesses will try to get around it.
At the same time, the government must ensure some degree of equality of opportunity through the provision of free and high-quality education and public health care. State education must match that of private schools, so nobody has an undue starting advantage. A wealth tax for the super-rich or higher taxes on luxury purchases might be the way to fund this. People need dreams. When people have access to education, upskilling and work, they can start dreaming the Indonesian Dream again.
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If you feel powerless to help Gaza, you still has a choice: donate. When so much of what exists is false, authenticity is a powerful weapon we can wield that the state never could. So if you feel lost, hopeless, depressed, angry and afraid, I implore you to return - again and again - to the feeling of love that exists within you that brought you here in the first place. It is only through this that we can remake the world. To redress Gaza's famine, displacement, and destruction, independent and impartial humanitarian organizations - UN agencies, international and national NGOs - must be allowed to deliver relief at scale. To salvage Gaza's people from the devastation inflicted by Israel, it must be unified with the West Bank to form an independent and sovereign Palestinian State, not to be parceled and colonized by the former.
Please keep donate Gaza especially if you, as reader, has [background] International Relation [whatever universities]. IR Graduate means [you must, at least] get some semester [about] studying Middle East [in macro, not specifically Gaza].
We need more people to share fundraisers instead of only talking about Gaza. Some people think that those in Gaza don't need money but that's wrong. Almost everyone lost their source of income while essentials, food & medicine get sold for astronomical prices. So I put my attempt in all social media as I can, in twitter / X, in substack [since October 2023 I put link donation], in bluesky or bsky, in threads, in instagram.
Link to donate World Food Programme - Palestine appeal: click here
[Daniel Brühl]
Most campaign shared or circulated in social media are for REAL people in Gaza. They're legit. There are a lot of small campaigns for struggling families. This is their only lifeline. By donating & sharing, you are literally making history and alleviating part of their pain
Please do not rely on me alone for sharing your campaign. I'm only 1 person and sometimes I'm not online which is unreliable. I never ignore anybody on purpose but I have a very limited capacity & very little energy and time.
[Refaat Alareer IF I MUST DIE] Refaat Alareer was extremely hungry, November 2023, days before killed by Israel airstrike. If November 2023 already [one-by-one Gazan] extremely hungry, imagine August 2025.
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