Last weekend I was granted the chance to attend the „20 years of reformasi“ conference hosted by watch Indonesia in Berlin. Though the topics discussed were definitely interesting and worth learning about, I find myself even more lost than before when it comes to Indonesian politics.
Due to this year being the 20th year passing after Indonesia’s 2nd president and (only?) dictator Soeharto’s fall, the topics presented mostly focused on experiences during the so-called New Order (Soeharto’s era). Though as much comments were given about the (shortcomings of) the past presidencies, likewise as much was discussed about the current one as well as the upcoming elections in 2019.
Needless to say the political tensions are as heated in the diaspora here in Germany as it is back in Indonesia. When my class decided to have Indonesian as dinner as we found it fitting after a long day of conference, we were warned by the Organisators to not eat at a specific restaurant as it is apparently owned by the KPK — a right-wing Indonesian political party, currently part of the opposition to the current government. This raised several questions among us: Is there even any evidence of the owners being members of said party or is it just something heard through the grapevine? To what extend can a dingly restaurant overseas even help a party? Is the politicization of our free time even necessary? And lastly, how does this remark position watch Indonesia as a supposedly neutral NGO on the political spectrum?
Interestingly this kind of black-white polarization of political accusing is even more prominent in the Indonesian community here than I had observed in Indonesia. Even more in bigger cities, where the population of Indonesian immigrants are even bigger and opinions even louder. Although I suppose it comes with the (bigger) freedom of speech in Germany, I’m surprised right-wingers are even present here, where they are ironically the target of rising German right-wingers.
The Indonesian community feels very divided as of now — there is a lot of accusing and subconsciously stereotyping others through their religious background (Muslim yes or no, which ethnic group/island are they from? and are they even active the mosque? Ah, they must be voting this candidate and this party then!) going on. The judgement seems even greater at public events where a lot of Indonesians gather.
Though I suppose it lays in the nature of Indonesians to care more about others than about oneself— even if it ends up being more than necessary.
