Global Voices » Indonesia

Indonesia: Reform of Juvenile Justice System

Mong Palatino — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:11:26 +0000

Leopold Sudaryono writes about the proposed reforms to Indonesia's juvenile justice system after numerous cases of children arrested and prosecuted of petty crimes were reported in the media

Common Language in Southeast Asia

Mong Palatino — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:35:55 +0000

What should be the common language in the Southeast Asian region? Thai, Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Melayu? Kaewmala discusses this issue.

Indonesia: Promoting E-Commerce Among Small Businesses

Mong Palatino — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:17:25 +0000

Google partners with Indonesian private and government sectors to bring 100,000 Indonesian small and medium businesses online by the end of 2012. The initiative is called Bisnis Lokal Go Online

Indonesia’s Teenage Thief and ‘Sandal Scandal’

Mong Palatino — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:45:56 +0000

Police in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, Indonesia beat a 15 year-old boy named A.A.L and threatened him with a five-year jail sentence after the boy was accused of stealing a pair of $1-flip-flops owned by a policeman. The incident has angered many citizens who launched a ‘sandal protest’ by depositing sandals in front of police stations across the country.

According to the protesters, the ‘sandal scandal’ highlighted the injustice experienced by the poor while the rich and powerful accused of corruption are given special treatment by the police:

This is the latest in a series of recent incidents from Aceh to Bima and from Lampung to Cilacap in which the police have turned against our children and vulnerable citizens and abused their power. But people have had enough and are sending a ‘flood of sandals’ to demonstrate their disgust. Now, the police are on the back foot and the government is feeling the heat. If we can build a huge public petition to President Yudhoyono we could force him to rein in our police and initiate critical reforms.

An online petition was initiated urging the president to implement reforms on how the police perform their duties:

To President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono:

In the wake of the A.A.L. sandal scandal, we call on you to end the criminalisation of children, initiate a fundamental review of the police, and devise urgent reform programmes so that our police carry out their civic duties repsonsibly. This is a time for you to stand with Indonesian citizens — we count on you to take all necessary steps to bring about a police force that works for the people, not against them.

But Jakartass notes the limitation of petition campaigns:

Let the pressure mount from within is what I've suggested A petition will do nothing, but making monkeys out of the police by presenting them with bananas is not an arrestable offence, but they will surely take note. Non-violent yet upfront demonstrations can be effective and media-worthy events.

'Sandals for Justice'. Photo from petition page in avaaz.org

Donny Syofyan suggests some legislative remedies to protect the rights of children:

Hence, the need for Juvenile Court legislation that really makes sense, that would prevent children from being detained in prison. There must be correction houses, such as boarding schools or special dorms, for children with legal problems.

The government and the House of Representatives need to say yes to pass the bill without delay. The bill must give an ear to a restorative justice approach with a view to prioritizing mediation and rehabilitation over penalties.

The absence of the country’s justice system in dealing with young delinquents frequently makes law enforcers take a punitive approach.

Armando Siahaan writes about the ‘pervasive irony’ in the Indonesian legal system:

If law enforcers would go after high-level corruption the same way they handled the kid who stole a pair of sandals from a police officer, just imagine how clean this country would be.

But surely there is a remedy short of taking them to court. Being found guilty could result in these youngsters being stigmatized as criminals and face possible psychological damage that could harm their future.

Sadly, the sandal scandal is just another example of the pervasive irony in our legal system. It’s easy to nab young wrongdoers, but mission impossible to catch the really big fish.

Protrait Indonesia describes the reactions of the people after the police beating incident was made public:

There was a bit of a national uproar; even normally judgmental religious leaders protested at the harshness of this prospective sentence. The press rushed to contrast the potential sentence with the lenient treatment of politicians and businesspeople accused of corruption. People convicted of stealing millions of dollars often spend just a few months in jails kitted out with gyms, spas and private dining rooms. In the end the kid was indeed convicted, but was sent home to lick his police-inflicted wounds with nothing more than stern warnings as punishment.

Nomadlife supports the ‘sandal protest’:

It's great to see that grass root movement in Indonesia is going strong. We still have tons of stupid stuff going on that need to be challenged publicly.

Colson calls the protest as “beating bitter irony by frisky irony”:

An action – “1000 sandals for the national police commander”- has been launched to shower the men in uniform with sandals. Mountains of that footwear are being delivered at the police station.

It is what it should be: beating bitter irony by frisky irony.

I guess the best way to undermine their authoritarian haughtiness is to confront these men with power with playful teasing. Like this peaceful demonstration by which people show they don’t buy their bullshit any-more.

Three cheers to public opinion which is way ahead of the Police.

Review of Indonesian Laws in 2011

Mong Palatino — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:09:46 +0000

Hukumonline reviews the laws passed by the Indonesian Parliament in 2011

Southeast Asia in 2011: A Year of Protest

Mong Palatino — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:28:37 +0000

The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street are localized protests that still made a tremendous impact in the world in 2011. They were organized in response to place-specific issues, but their appeal and influence were immediately global. In Southeast Asia, Global Voices was able to feature several protest movements in 2011 that echoed the radical politics of Arab Spring and Occupy.

Malaysia’s Bersih (Clean) was the most outstanding protest event of 2011 in the region. The event, which was initially organized to ask for very sensible and doable electoral reforms (e.g. cleaning up of the electoral roll and the use of indelible ink), in the end became a pro-democracy action because of the massive participation of the civilian population in the streets – and the violent reaction of the state.

And like the tech-savvy Arab protesters, the Bersih marchers maximized social media to broaden the movement’s appeal among the apolitical segments of the local internet community.

Perhaps to prevent another Bersih, the Malaysian Parliament has approved the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill which gives police and government authorities broad powers to control and even ban street assemblies and protests. Rallies were also organized to oppose the bill

Bersih rally from the FB page of Yuvanesh Prabakaran

Next to Bersih were the various Occupy protests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. They didn’t succeed in sustaining big crowds, (Singapore’s Occupy flopped) but through their militant and creative actions, they were able to highlight the worsening poverty in their societies.

The Occupy protests in the Philippines were joined by students and other young people who used planking as a unique and funny way of expressing their anger over the state budget cuts on education and other social services. Early this month, the Occupy-like campout protests of students near the presidential palace were violently dispersed by the police.

Mass planking protest. Photo from participant

Perhaps the most underrated protest of the year was the rally of Cambodian villagers who dressed up like the Na'vi tribe from the 2009 science fiction film Avatar in opposition to the government’s plan to convert the Prey Lang forest into plantations and mines. Prey Lang is the largest remaining primary lowland dry evergreen forest in the region.

Prey Lang Avatar

Environmental protests actually intensified this year, and one of them succeeded in forcing Myanmar's government to cancel its hydroelectric dam project on the Irrawaddy River.

Not all those who fight for land rights, even through non-violent means, are able to freely express and organize their campaigns – a fact underscored by the experience of seven activists in Vietnam who were arrested, charged, and found guilty of overthrowing the government.

The protesters whose actions perhaps most symbolized the deep hatred and frustration of the poor against an oppressive system were Pham Thanh Son of Vietnam and Sondang Hutagalung of Indonesia. Son burned himself early this year in front of Da Nang’s municipal office to protest the confiscation of his family’s property by local authorities, while Sondang set his body on fire just a few weeks ago in front of the presidential palace to condemn the anti-poor policies of the government.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/ngochoang.qb.vn

There were no London-like urban riots in Southeast Asia this year, but the great floods that destroyed rice fields and food crops in almost all countries of the region could lead to food and rice protests next year. Delays in the rehabilitation of flooded communities could also ignite more anger and political backlash. During the Thailand flooding, residents removed flood barriers and defied authorities in protest to what they perceived as unfair government policy to ‘save’ central Bangkok from flooding at the expense of nearby towns.

Human rights advocates decried the continuing crackdown of democracy protests in West Papua and the various activities of their supporters in Indonesia.

We also recognize the SlutWalk protest in Singapore for its brave articulation of equality and sexual freedom through a rare protest assembly in the city.

Protest hashtags of the year: #bersih, #bersih2, #bersihstories, #occupydataran, #campoutph, #walk4freedom, #sawangsawa

Indonesia: Activist Dies After Self-Immolation in Front of Palace

Carolina Rumuat — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:30:55 +0000

Sondang Hutagalung, a human rights activist and law school student, died after suffering from first degree burn injury after setting himself on fire in front of the state palace in Jakarta, Indonesia

Sondang Hutagalung at a protest commemorating the death of rights activist Munir Said Thalib. Photo by Dina Savaluna, used with permission.

Moch Najib Yuliantoro wrote [id] on his blog:

Ia lakukan itu dengan sadar, terencana, dengan satu tekad: perubahan. Tetapi apa setelah Sondang tak ada? Mereka yang berkuasa tetap bertahta sebagai pengusa. Secara kolektif, setelah 10 hari kepergiannya, kita pun tak bergerak. Perubahan yang diimpikan Sondang tak kunjung datang.

He did it consciously, planned, with one determination: change. But what happened after Sondang is gone? Those with power continue to rule on their thrones. Collectively, 10 days after his passing, we stay where we are.

Najib fears that Sondang's dream of a better Indonesia may fell on deaf ears:

Kesadaran kolektif sebagai “Indonesia” sudah hangus terbakar menjadi abu. Jika dengan bakar diri yang dikehendaki Sondang adalah perubahan drastis, seperti di Tunisia, misalnya, tampaknya ia salah cara. Bangsa ini tak seperti Tunisia. Bangsa ini sudah “mati”. Tak lagi berhasrat untuk melakukan “revolusi”.

(Our) Collective consciousness as “Indonesia” was incinerated into ashes. If by self immolation, Sondang is wrong to think that drastic changes like in Tunisia will happen. This nation is different from Tunisia. This nation is “dead”. We no longer has the wish for revolution.

Sella Wahyu said [id] on her blog:

[…] peristiwa ini menimbulkan reaksi beragam dari masyarakat. Kebanyakan menyayangkan aksi ini mengingat Sondang masih muda dan masih panjang jalan hidupnya, sebagian menganggap Sondang adalah seorang yang “berani mati tapi tak berani hidup” dan sebagian lagi menganggap Sondang adalah seorang martir demokrasi.

Kita terperosok untuk menghujat dan menghina Sondang sehingga alpa bahwa ada masalah yang sangat pelik di negeri ini yang mungkin menjadi dasar dan alasan dia memilih bakar diri sebagai ekspressi pribadinya.

This incident has triggered different reactions from the people. Most of them regret it, considering how young Sondang is and that he had a long life path ahead of him, some considered Sondang as someone who “dared to die but didn't dare to live” and some considered him as a martyr of democracy.

We're trapped in the puddle of insults for Sondang, we failed to see that the crucial problems of this country were the reasons why he set himself on fire, as a way to speak up his mind.

Arman Dhani Bustomi wrote a blog post tribute [id] for Sondang with an opening that says, “the revolution devours its own children”:

Kukira Sondang menyadari bahwa dalam sebuah perjuangan akan selalu ada tumbal. Ia juga menyadari, bahwa hanya sedikit perbedaan antara menjadi idealis atau melakukan kebodohan. Bahwa perihal kurban itu adalah permasalahan sudut pandang. Tak ada satupun manusia di bawah kolong langit yang berhak memberikan nilai atau kuasa hukum dalam sebuah perjuangan. Perjuangan adalah perkara keyakinan diri.

[…]

Kukira Sondang saat itu mengingat mama. Mengingat bagaimana dengan mesra dan patuh ia memeluknya di gereja. Mendengar kidung puji. Doa tuhan bapa kami dengan khusyuk. Mengingat betapa natal dan keriuhan bersama keluarga adalah kenangan yang sangat indah. Dan perlahan merapal doa-doa minta maaf. Kalut ia bertanya. “apakah aku akan diampuni bapa?”

[…]

Kukira Sondang terbakar amarah. Tapi ia tak sendirian. Karena aku kini juga terbakar amarah. Atas kebodohanku. Kelemahanku. Dan ketakpedulianku pada masalah bangsa ini.

I think Sondang realized that there'll be sacrifice on every struggle. He also realized that there's a fine line between being an idealist and making a stupidity. That a sacrifice is only a matter of point of view. That no one under the sky has the right to judge or authorize a struggle. A struggle is a matter of self belief.

[…]

I think Sondang remembered his mother at that time. Remembered how loving and obedient he held her at the church. Listening to the hymns of worship. The solemn Lord's Prayer. Remembered how Christmas and his family's glee, the wonderful memory. And he slowly recite prayers, asking for forgiveness . In his darkest hour he asked, “Father, will I be forgiven?”

[…]

I think Sondang was angered. But he wasn't alone. I, too, now am angered. By my stupidity. My weakness. My ignorance towards the problems of this country.

A local newspaper in North Sumatra, Harian Orbit, quoted Sondang's fellow human rights activists saying that Sondang has sent some 1,400 letters regarding human rights violations to President Susilo Bambang, but none of them has actually reached the president due to the state palace protocols.

Sondang's alma mater, Bung Karno University, gave him an Honoris Causa title and renamed the Faculty of Law's courtroom, Sondang Hutagalung room.

Regarding Sondang's honorary title, blogger Yusuf Harfi asked [id], “how come a self immolator received an honorary degree?”

He continues:

Saya sendiri tidak memandang Sondang ialah pahlawan perubahan ataupun patriot pembaharuan seperti yang banyak orang amini.

[…]

Ya, saya juga sama dengan Sondang, saya juga prihatin kepada kondisi Indonesia saat ini. Tapi, hal ini bukan berarti kita sebagai warga negara untuk menempuh aksi nekat seperti bakar diri. Agama apapun pasti mengajarkan untuk terus berusaha, gigih, pantang menyerah, dan tidak putus asa.

I personally don't see Sondang as a hero of change or a patriot of revival like many people thought he is.

[…]

Yes, I also share Sondang's concerns, I'm also concerned about Indonesia's current condition. But, this doesn't mean that as citizens we should do a reckless act like self immolation. Any religion taught us to continue trying, determined, adamant, and never put up hope.

A day after Sondang's self immolation incident, the head of the central Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Amidhan, said [id] that self immolation is “haram” (forbidden by Islam), and considered self immolators people in despair and depressed.

Special thanks for Dina Savaluna for the photo.

Southeast Asia Indie Music

Mong Palatino — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:55:07 +0000

Southeast Asia Indie aims “to unite and promote the great indie scenes in the Southeast Asian Region: Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.” It specializes in releasing free digital mp3 compilations and singles that include indie tracks from the region.

Indonesia: Solidarity March for Aceh Punks

Mong Palatino — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:14:37 +0000

EngageMedia uploads a video of the solidarity march which was organized to support 64 musicians who were detained in Aceh, Indonesia for being “punks” and “disturbing the peace.”

Indonesia: Cost of Corruption

Mong Palatino — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:07:59 +0000

Colson writes about the cost of corruption in Indonesia. In the past five years, it's estimated that $3.3 billion of government funds were lost to corruption.

Indonesia's ‘Soft Power'

Mong Palatino — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:04:44 +0000

Awis Mranani believes Indonesia should enhance and maximize the full potential of its cultural 'soft power' in order to gain more influence in the region and the world.

Social Media Event Gathers Southeast Asia Bloggers

Mong Palatino — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:28:54 +0000

ON|OFF 2011, formerly known as Pesta Blogger, is the biggest gathering of bloggers and social media enthusiasts in Indonesia. This year's event also gathered bloggers from Southeast Asian countries.

Indonesia: Social Media Situation

Mong Palatino — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:31:32 +0000

Indonesian netizen @donnybu posts on Slideshare a presentation about the social media situation in Indonesia, including the challenges faced by internet users as they campaign for greater internet freedom

South East Asian Social Network

Mong Palatino — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:39:28 +0000

South East Asian Social Network or SEASONed Bloggers is a newly created Facebook group whose goal is to connect bloggers in Southeast Asia and encourage them to “share their blogs, and share their thoughts about blogging in their countries.”

China: United States Begins ‘Pacific Century', Online Nationalism Follows

John Kennedy — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:38:59 +0000

Most of China's popular blog portal sites have sections for military news, often buried below panels for entertainment and love/relationship stories. Starting roughly in October with the quiet story that India continues to build up its presence along the border with China, posts on military topics seem to have grown in number and prominence on major blog hosting sites, reaching a peak this past week with reactions to United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US President Barack Obama's Pacific swing, which wrapped up in Indonesia on Saturday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao insists that China is a good neighbor, but much of what's been written in many recent blog posts and comment threads sort of suggests otherwise.

Earlier on Wednesday, Obama's assertion while in Australia that he doesn't fear China became the headline in Chinese reports of his plans to expand US military presence there, and has had emotional comments voted to the top of comment threads on sites such as Tencent [zh], where readers are usually a mix of the liberal and cynical:

奥巴马说话太牛气中国现实需要一个年轻时期的诸葛亮

Obama speaks with too much arrogance. What China needs now is someone like Zhuge Liang [zh] in his early years.

求求中国那些懦夫们不要在发言了，羞死国人！气死我了！！！！！！
为丧失国土而哭！为美债而怒！为汉奸论而怒火冲霄！
我愿为中华民族而拔刀。。。。。。。。。。

All you cowards in China, please stop talking, you embarrass us to death and you piss me off!!!!
I'm crying over China's lost territory! I'm furious about America's debt! And I'm brimming with rage at these traitorous comments!
I'm ready to draw my sword for the Chinese nation………..

Obama didn't explicitly say this past week that his recent moves are aimed at checking Chinese power in Asia, but Chinese nationalist sentiment has taken them not just as confirmation of a larger strategy to encircle China, but also an expanded approach.

Australian writer and international affairs scholar Yang Hengjun wrote on that [zh] this week:

美国要对付中国，军事围堵当然少不了，而且他正好可以消化十年反恐中剩下的军力。这对于中国是很不妙的，我们过去20年经济大发展就得力于相对和平的国际环境，一旦北京决策者像年轻人一样头脑发热，要在军事上应战，像前苏联一样勒紧裤腰带、穷兵黩武，那么离苏联曾经走过的路就不远了。

在目前的国际环境与历史时期，我认为中美之间开战的可能不是没有，但战场是在经济领域。真正能够打得起来的战争其实是“经济战”，或者说“经济冷战”，军事部署只不过是美国人的大战略的一部分，决定胜负的是经济——是民众的生活水平能否提高，民众是否感到幸福，人心向背等等。其中最关键的因素是价值理念等“软实力”、“巧实力”的交锋。

If the United States is to take on China, military encirclement will be part of that, and it just happens America has military strength freed up from ten years in a war on terror. None of this is good for China. Twenty years of expansive economic grown should have prepared us for relative peace on the international stage, but if policymakers in Beijing get the childish idea in their heads that there's need to prepare for war and start tightening belts like the former USSR did, militarizing and becoming aggressive, then they won't be far from going down the same road that the former Soviets did.

At this point in history and in this international climate, I don't think that war between China and the US is impossible, but rather that it will be war in the economic sense. The true war that will be fought will be an economic war, or an ‘economic cold war'. Deploying troops is just one part of America's overall strategy. What will determine who wins or loses is the economy, whether people's standard of living is increasing, whether or not the public is satisfied, popular support, etc. The key confrontations will be over things like values and soft and smart power.
[…]

如果我没有说错，中美在经济领域的前哨战已经打响了。事实上，我们已经看到美国在经济上全面出击了。我们告别了“中国可以说不”的时代，迎来的却是“世界开始对中国说不”。

Unless I'm mistaken, the first shot in the economic war between China and the US has already been taken. In fact, we can already see that the US is now attacking on all economic fronts. We've left behind the era of “China Can Say No“, and are now entering the period of “The World Has Begun Saying No to China”.

And from comments on Yang's blog post:

不知要到何时中国人成能真真站起来，做一个有尊严的人！！

When will the Chinese people finally be able to stand up and receive respect?

我们要在软实力上战胜美国，先得战胜国人的心。

Our soft power needs to win over America's, and win over our own hearts and minds.

美国对中国是从希望到失望。国人只知道美国军舰进入太平洋，只知道希拉里去菲律宾，奥巴马进澳大利亚，美国大兵进驻澳洲，可就是不知道他们为什么来到这里，是谁把他们引到这里来的。

The US has gone from hope for China to disappointment. The only thing Chinese people know is that American navy ships have entered the Pacific, that Hillary went to the Philippines, that Obama spoke in Australia and that US troops will be stationed there. What we don't know is why they've come or who brought them here.

All of ASEAN, it seems, but the Philippines in particular, as it took aim at China during last week's summits in Indonesia.

“Since the US is serious about this,” reads the comment voted most popular (by a large margin) on a Tencent story on Hillary's recent commitment to provide military support to the Philippines if it's ever attacked, “then we'll meet them head on. We won't allow being put through another century of humiliation, even if it means killing Americans.”

Now bloggers are posting possible conflict triggers and resolution scenarios to mainstream blog portals, not just the regulars at the usual nationalistic niche online communities. On his Phoenix blog, Shi Weisong writes that as the number of disputed territories grows, China needs to start getting proactive in finding ways to prevent a crisis. Military presence needs to be strengthened, he writes, and military and economic means need to be used to rope in neighboring countries and keep them from leading the US on.

North Korea can keep keep South Korea distracted and be used as leverage against the United States and, similarly, movement toward reunification with Taiwan will take away America's advantage. As for the South China Sea, Shi writes, we need to find an opportunity to strike as well as an appropriate opponent, a role which suits the Philippines.

美国力量进入东亚地区是不可避免的，也是无法避免的。中国如何与美博弈，保障自身利益与战略空间，特别是周边国家借此翻江倒浪，将是中国无法躲避的问题。

The entry of American power into East Asia can't be prevented, and won't be. An encounter with the US and, in it, how China will ensure its own interests and strategic space—particularly as surrounding countries move in—is something China won't be able to avoid.

Cover image borrowed from Wikipedia user Bazonka.