‘We are all angry’: Indonesian protests are spreading all over the world

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Anti-governmental hymns from hundreds of Indonesian community members called via Federation Square in Melbourne.

It was late in the afternoon last Tuesday and the gray sky made pink placards, which symbolized courage and resistance, striking in the crowd.

As the singing became louder and louder, a voice cut on a microphone through the sound.

“We have gathered here for humanity,” Indonesian student Pipin Jamson told the crowd.

At least 400 members of the Indonesian diaspora in Melbourne, including students, academics, holders of working vacation visa and deliverers had come together to show support for a protest movement that has been rocking Indonesia for the past fourteen days.

Indonesians have taken to the streets to express their anger about housing surcharges and other benefits for members of parliament, while ordinary people struggle with the pressure of the costs of life.

In addition to Australia, Indonesian protests led to a wave of peaceful movements in Diaspora communities around the world, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.

“This is an organic movement that happens all over the world, because we, as Indonesians, are really disappointed about what the government did,” said student Marya Yenita Sitohang, in Melbourne.

Protesters around the world have used the same list of requirements created by civil society organizations in Indonesia.

The requirements, known as the “17+8”, include 17 short term requirements and eight long -term requirements.

The long -term requirements include a request for an independent investigation team for victims of violence and human rights violations and stopping military involvement in civil security.

The short -term requirements include calls for freezing the wages and reimbursements of parliamentarians, better budget transparency and higher employee wage.

The requirements were formally handed over to the Parliament of Indonesia last week.

Although the benefits of MPS have stopped and a moratorium on overseas journeys in response to the protests, many of the requirements remain unbelievable.

In Canberra, the Indonesian protest coordinator Avina Nadhila said that the meeting last Thursday was the Australian National University (ANU) to exert international pressure on the Indonesian government.

“So the Indonesian government is aware of what they are doing and that their action is seen by the world,” said Mrs. Nadhila.

“This is our way of running democracy, so the government will listen to their people, not only in Indonesia, but also outside the country.”

Mrs Nadhila said that at least 60 people, including students, anu teachers, family and children, participated in the protest.

Another form of movement has also reduced itself on social media, where people shared photos of themselves with the 17+8 question poster.

Protests started in Germany

The international movement started at the end of August with Berlin Gate van Brandenburg, one of the most prominent sights of Germany that symbolizes freedom.

Janty Jie, a member of the Indonesian community in Germany, said that about 110 people who started that protest “shared the same feelings of anger and disappointment for the Indonesian government.”

“People who normally don’t really care joined the protest because the government’s policy would directly affect their family at home,” she said.

“The government forgot that they work for us, not the other way around.”

On the other side of the world in New York, at least 250 people attended a protest on 1 September.

Participants who wore Zwart marched from Central Park to the Indonesian consulate in New York and held a wake and candlelit ceremony for 10 people who were killed in Indonesian protests.

The group also read an open letter that contained the 17+8 requirements for the consulate general, who said he would forward it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An organizer told the ABC that many people in the New York Diaspora were banned whether Indonesia left during the era of former authoritarian President Suharto, or after the riots of May 1998 in Indonesia.

Protesters in London gathered in Russell Square Gardens on Friday to give orations or read poems in solidarity with people’s homes.

Indy Kana, student and coordinator of the action, said that people from other parts of the UK also participated, including the local British.

Mrs. Kana said it was important that the Diaspora community has made their voices heard.

“Many of us can study here because of the stock market program that is financed by Indonesians,” she said ABC.

In Tokyo, the Indonesian protest organizers continued with a meeting despite roadblocks when applying for a permit to keep a protest.

After they have gone back and forth with the police, 50 Indonesian diaspora members eventually gathered in Yoyogi Park to share poems, speeches or artworks in “solidarity with friends in Indonesia”.

“We did not receive the police permit to do a rally or peaceful march, so that is the size of what we could do,” said organizer Hillary Hardy.

“It is a bit difficult in Japan with the risky constant anti-immigrant movement,” she explained.

Another organizer Bernadette Nathania Sukieche said that Indonesians should use their privilege abroad to express their concerns about Indonesia.

“We are still Indonesians, whatever happens, and we cannot give up Indonesia, even though we are often injured and suppressed by the government,” said Mrs. Sukieche.