Not even two years into the current presidency, the rupiah has fallen to record lows against the U.S. dollar. Some cabinet positions are filled with party loyalists who are barely competent in their fields, while a member of parliament was recently seen smoking and playing a game during a public hearing. A former education minister now stands trial on accusations of causing state financial losses, while a videographer faces legal scrutiny over the budget of a government-funded village profile video.
As I’m writing this, the president stated that the rise of the U.S. dollar would not significantly affect us, since we don’t use dollars in our daily life. A statement that my friends and I could only laugh at, after watching our canteen quietly raise its prices as imported goods became increasingly expensive due to their dependence on the dollar.
On the other side, hundreds of trillions have already been spent on the new capital project, after its legal challenge was dismissed by the Constitutional Court, leaving its implementation dependent on a presidential decree. Meanwhile, trillions are poured into the administration’s flagship free meal program, a policy that increasingly feels more like political theater than genuine reform. I’m not an economist, but the program appears to function as a high-cost symbolic project, absorbing significant public funds while other essential sectors remain underprioritized.
I used to have faith in this republic, believing that eventually things would improve. When protests broke out across the country, I used to stay calm, believing that all of it was just a miscommunication between the state and the people, and that everything will be fine. When half the internet felt like it was burning like an inferno, I stayed silent, still believing that everything will be fine.
But when all you see every day on the internet is a weakening currency, corruption everywhere, a justice system that does not seem to prevail, and representatives who no longer seem to serve the public’s interest, it becomes difficult to hold onto that belief. And today, I can’t help but ask myself,
"Is it wrong to lose faith in your own country?"
This is not the first time systems built on scale and power have struggled under their own weight. I guess we never learn, don’t we? The largest company of its time once existed in this archipelago. It was called the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC). It was so large it had its own navy. It felt more like a nation than a company, yet it eventually collapsed due to corruption and flawed financial management.
For a moment, I felt as though the country was entering one of its more fragile periods since ’98. I’m not putting the blame entirely on those in office right now. In fact, I still love this country. This is where I was born, where my life is rooted, and where I will always belong in one way or another. Even so, I still believe that everything will be fine. Or at least, that is what I keep telling myself.
Maybe these are mistakes that have accumulated over previous presidencies, or even the ones before that, leaving all of us to clean up the mess. But expecting meaningful change within my own lifetime feels increasingly like a distant dream.