Today was the last day of my Bahasa Indonesian classes and I was lucky to finish 10 minutes early. 10 minutes later and I would have in been the centre of a violent clash between police, students, and Makassar residents.
I left the school from a back entrance as numbers of students began to gather on the front steps. 15 minutes later I arrived at the gym I frequent, climbed onto the elliptical, looked up, and saw the violent scene I had just missed.
I left the school from a back entrance as numbers of students began to gather on the front steps. 15 minutes later I arrived at the gym I frequent, climbed onto the elliptical, looked up, and saw the violent scene I had just missed.
For the past two weeks, students, and some residents, have taken to the streets in front of university campuses and government buildings in Makassar, Sulawesi, in protest of the pending fuel price rise. The Indonesian government has been providing a subsidy on gas that costs it 20 billion IDR annually. Recently elected Joko Widodo has made his first order of business to cut this costly spending; a decision that will see the price of fuel raise over 50% for some types of fuel.
Granted, 20 billion IDR relocated to other government departments could do wonders for healthcare, infrastructure, or social welfare issues in the country. However, for the people of Makassar, who rely on transport in one form of another to span this sprawling city, this price increase is too high, too fast, and making any sort of rational argument for it is too far removed from their immediate reality.
Makassar is not the only city in protest, but it seems to be one of the most serious. Students here are organizing daily to make it known that they will not sit by as their government makes decisions which so greatly effect their daily lives.
Granted, 20 billion IDR relocated to other government departments could do wonders for healthcare, infrastructure, or social welfare issues in the country. However, for the people of Makassar, who rely on transport in one form of another to span this sprawling city, this price increase is too high, too fast, and making any sort of rational argument for it is too far removed from their immediate reality.
Makassar is not the only city in protest, but it seems to be one of the most serious. Students here are organizing daily to make it known that they will not sit by as their government makes decisions which so greatly effect their daily lives.
I work with three of the universities here in Makassar on an economic development project. I see these campuses daily. The thing I see more than bright young faces on these campuses is motorbikes. Makassar's traffic issues are beginning to rival those of Jakarta some days and increasing fuel prices is not an incentive to stay home, walk, or even take more public transit (because those fare prices will increase too), rather its an incentive for families to take needed funds from other places, like a grocery budgets, and reallocate that money to fuel.
I was lucky today. The violent scene at UNM escalated to the point where the deputy police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok Lisdianto, was shot with an arrow and the police then proceeded to storm the campus wrecking classrooms and attacking students who were studying.
The violence and unrest will not stop. Soon the price of fuel will rise. The city is on the brink of something big and students are letting politicians know they will not sit by -- they are organized and they will fight.
I was lucky today. The violent scene at UNM escalated to the point where the deputy police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok Lisdianto, was shot with an arrow and the police then proceeded to storm the campus wrecking classrooms and attacking students who were studying.
The violence and unrest will not stop. Soon the price of fuel will rise. The city is on the brink of something big and students are letting politicians know they will not sit by -- they are organized and they will fight.