International: In solidarity with Indonesians

Indonesia is resisting. Labour unions, student activists and women’s groups are among those protesting political excess—the most egregious was a proposed US$3,000 (S$3,861) monthly housing allowance for legislators. In Jakarta, the minimum wage is just over a tenth that. Many on minimum wage work for Gojek, part of the huge “ojol” (Gojek online) army of ride-share bike drivers. One of them, 21-year-old Affan Kurniawan, was making a delivery when a Brimob (Mobile Brigade Corps) vehicle clearing protestors ran him over. Ojol are the “eyes and ears in every single community in the entire country…[T]he intel gathered and capacity to organise is unlike any other labour group I've ever seen,” wrote a longtime Indonesia observer. A video of Affan’s death fanned the fiery protests into an inferno. Provocateurs may be responsible for the burning of two regional-parliament buildings and looting of five Jakarta officials’ homes. Perhaps 10 have now died across the country. Prabowo Subianto, elected president last year, moved swiftly. While pledging to quell violence, he rolled back the legislators’ perks and promised to hold those responsible for Affan’s death accountable.

Still, the protests continue. It’s an indication perhaps that the unrest has deeper roots. The Indonesian middle-class has shrunk by 16 percent since 2019. In its maiden budget earlier this year, the Prabowo government increased national social spending but slashed contributions to states, forcing them to raise local taxes. The Trump tariffs—19 percent on Indonesian exports—have deepened economic uncertainty. During such times, lavish perks do not for a convivial polity make. There’s a sense of disaffection with Prabowo’s mega-coalition, which includes almost all parties, and has dulled parliamentary contestation. But, in Indonesia, at least some power resides with the people and the unions. 

Amidst the fear, the anger and the deaths, the one bright spot has been the support and solidarity extended towards gig workers, often through social media platforms. Instructions for Grab customers across South-east Asia to send food to Indonesian riders have gone viral. Gojek subsequently launched its own “treat your driver” feature. The precarity of gig work, and seeping unease about the rising cost of living, set against a global order unravelling seemingly in slow motion, is opening doors for cross-border camaraderie that transcends stodgy summits. Something to cheer, even as we contend with the risk of something worse.

Prabowo, a former army general, has sent troops into Jakarta and linked protests with attempted treason, prompting worries about a return to martial law. The editors of The Jakarta Post referenced an attempted attack by an unspecified mob on a residential complex with large numbers of ethnic Chinese, “a little over two months since the 27th anniversary of the May 1998 tragedy.” Prabowo, they said, “has already undermined civilian supremacy by appointing more TNI [military] officers to positions in the government and at state-owned enterprises. A military government is the last thing the greater public wants from his administration.”