We may not talk much about Indonesia, but the truth is that this country matters much
more than you think.
More than 250 million people, half of them under 30, make Indonesia... the most populous
Muslim country on the planet.
But Indonesia is also one of the most complicated countries.
Allow me to explain.
Indonesia is a huge archipelago that consists of more than 17,000 islands covering more
than 5,000km (that's 3,000 miles) from end to end.
This is approximately the distance from London to Afghanistan.
Based on this alone you can already imagine the enormous variety of ethnicities, cultures
and languages found in this country.
And also the huge social differences.
For example, while the citizens of Jakarta are almost addicted to Twitter, a fifth of
the population doesn't even have access to electricity.
("Indonesia's diversity is not just geographic and cultural; different groups are essentially
living at different points in human history, all at the same time.
Travelling from Jakarta to the Maluku islands can seem like going back in time."
Elizabeth Pisani,writer, journalist and scientist.)
And you can imagine how difficult it can be to manage a country like this.
A country, in which by the way, Barack Obama spent a good part of his childhood.
Yes, you heard that right.
Obama's mother married an Indonesian citizen in 1965 and 2 years later they moved to Jakarta.
( "I feel great affection for the people here.
And obviously I have a sister who's half Indonesian.
My mother lived and worked here for a long time.
And so the sights and the sounds and the memories all feel very familiar".
Barack Obama)
But... okay, some of you may be thinking... but Simon, why the hell should I care about
Indonesia?
What's so special about this country?
Well you see, despite all of its difficulties, the Indonesian economy has grown a lot in
recent decades... and my friends, even though it may surprise us, Indonesia will soon become
the largest Muslim power on the planet.
And that has lots of social, political and economic implications:
( "You can even notice how people have changed their way of dressing.
The average age is of around 29-30 years, those young people who have gone out into
the market, who are better trained, create an urban middle class with a huge dynamism,
and this dynamism is what will change this country."
Carlos Gastón, BBVA representative in Indonesia.)
Well, you can already imagine why we should care more about Indonesia than we do.
But before taking a closer look at what's happening, here's a bit of history.
(THE INDEPENDENCE)
The history of Indonesia, of Indonesia as a country, has had 2 main protagonists: Sukarno
and Suharto.
See, Indonesia is a fairly new country... it wasn't until 1949 that it gained its
independence from the Netherlands.
Yes, you heard that right, Indonesia wasn't a British or French colony, it was a Dutch
colony.
And don't think gaining their independence was easy... not at all.
Allow me to explain, Sukarno was an important leader of the resistance against colonial
rule.
In 1927 he founded the Indonesian Nationalist Party under this slogan: "One nation, Indonesia;
one people, the Indonesian; one language, Bahasa Indonesia."
Of course... as you can imagine, the Dutch authorities didn't like these ideas at all,
so Sukarno was persecuted, detained and finally forced into a kind of exile in Sumatra.
A forced imprisonment, dear viewers, from which he was released in World War II by Japanese
troops when they occupied Indonesia.
The Japanese themselves joined the Indonesian nationalists to control the country more easily.
Well, the fact is that two days after Japan surrendered in August 1945, Sukarno declared
Indonesia's independence.... a declaration that wasn't recognized by the Dutch authorities.
Far from that, they tried to regain power... by force.
Thus began the so-called "National Revolution" that lasted 4 years and which was very, very
bloody.
( "After the birth of the Republik Indonesia, we experienced a painful separation, a process
marked by terrible violence.
These are dark pages of our history".
Bert Koenders, Dutch former Minister of Foreign Affairs)
To give you an idea, it is estimated that in just 4 years, more than 100,000 Indonesians
and 5,000 Dutch soldiers lost their lives.
And that's how finally, in 1949, after much, much suffering, the Dutch authorities accepted
and recognized Indonesia's Independence.
(TWO DICTATORS)
Indonesia achieving its independence certainly didn't mean that the country was free.
Over the following 18 years, Sukarno led Indonesia in an increasingly authoritarian way, under
a model that became known as "directed democracy."
And I swear, every time you put an adjective next to the term democracy, it's usually
anything but democracy.
During this time all kinds of problems occurred: the country was very, very poor, the economy
didn't work and there were all kinds of rebellions and conflicts:
ethnic conflict, self-determination, a conflict with Malaysia and especially with the Indonesian
Communist Party – the first communist party in Asia, by the way – which with China and
the Soviet Union's support became increasingly important in the country.
See, Sukarno wasn't considered a communist leader.
But he was a rather socialist leader who didn't mind getting close to Mao's China and who
even received support from the Soviet Union.
Something that didn't prevent the Indonesian Communist Party from wanting to seize power
at all costs.
Well, between all this pulling and shoving, in 1965, an important clash happened.
Army commanders connected to the Communist Party prepared a coup... which didn't work.
This event unleashed a brutal repression against the communist party that cost the lives of
hundreds of thousands of people and which the army general, Suharto greatly took advantage
of to seize power, with support from the United States.
During the following 3 decades, Suharto ruled the country with an iron fist.
With Washington's support, he launched some economic expansion measures that were quite
successful and made their growth skyrocket.
However... it was still a harsh dictatorship... and the state's violence, political repression
and corruption were tremendously widespread.
So, when at the end of the 90s, the Asian crisis occurred, the Indonesian economy collapsed.
The rupiah lost 80% of its value against the dollar and poverty multiplied by 4.
So... faced with this disaster, General Suharto was forced to leave.
After almost 50 years of independence and dictatorship... democracy in Indonesia had
a chance.
And finally, after a lot of conflicts, because in this country, conflicts are constant, the
first free elections were held in 2004.
It must be said, of course, that since Suharto's fall, Indonesia has experienced a period of
change, political openness, decentralization and an economic policy that is more open to
the world.... even though it's still highly restricted.
And in 2014, Indonesia's current president, Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi and
usually qualified as the Indonesian Barack Obama, won the elections.
Jokowi promised to liberalize the country, boost growth above 7% per year and lay the
foundations for Indonesia to become an economic and political power, the largest Muslim power
in the world.
At that moment, my friends, expectations were skyrocketing and the international media spoke
of Indonesia as the country of the future.
But... wait a moment... because since then some things have... changed.
Listen up.
(JOKO WIDODO: A PRESIDENT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS)
Joko Widodo's arrival was a revolution, a great breath of fresh air.
Jokowi was the first non-military or political elite candidate in the country to take power.
Social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, played a key role.
And the truth is that the new president started off his plan to make Indonesia become a much
more competitive country on the right foot.
Since he arrived in power, among other measures, Jokowi greatly decreased and eliminated several
subsidies and allocated that money, about 40 billion dollars, to try and solve one of
the country's greatest problems: their lack of infrastructure.
Something that makes transporting goods between the country's islands even more expensive
than importing a container from Europe.
And not only that, the President also launched several programs to decrease bureaucracy and
regulations which is... another big problem.
Do you want an example?
Check this out, Indonesia's regulations and bureaucracy are so strong, that for example
if companies like Inditex, Zara, or H&M want to open a new store in Jakarta, they can't
do it directly, they need a local franchise.
What's more, many sectors are closed to foreign investment and the government has
to assume a huge part of the weight.
Big construction companies, aeronautical industries, shipyards and many communication companies
are still state companies.
Well, the fact is that, Jokowi is also promoting opening special economic tourism and industrial
areas; and has launched a medical insurance model that has covered more than half of the
population.
Sounds good, right?
Well, friends, wait a moment... because despite everything, these changes are slower than
the president promised and slower than the country needs them to be;
Therefore, even though foreign investment has grown, the growth rate is lower than expected.
But... of course, this isn't the biggest problem, nor what will probably cost this
president his re-election.
The big problem is that in recent years, there have been clear outbreaks of religious fundamentalism.
(A MODERATE ISLAMIC POWER?)
For years, Indonesia has been presented as a kind of model, a mostly Muslim country that
recognizes religious freedom, a country that is becoming increasingly open to the world
and where women participate actively in political life.
("Indonesia's tradition of moderate Islam frankly is an inspiration to the world and
we commend you and your people.
In your nation as in mine, religion unifies, it does not divide."
Mike Pence, US Vice President.)
In fact, this is how the Indonesian government presents itself to the world.
("Indonesia is the world's third-largest democracy.
And we also have the world's largest Muslim population.
This demonstrates that democracy and Islam are not incompatible".
Joko Widodo, president of Indonesia.)
However, in recent years there has been a significant increase in religious radicalism.
This is something that organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch
are denouncing.
And, the truth is that they have every reason to do so:
For example, last year the Indonesian Ulema Council, the largest religious authority in
the country, decided to defend the belief that Christians and other non-believers shouldn't
be able to hold political positions in areas that were majority Muslim, which pertains
to the vast majority of the country.
On the other hand, the governor of Jakarta and close ally of President Jokowi, a Christian
of Chinese ancestry known as Ahok, has been condemned for blasphemy by insinuating that
politics and religion should be separate.
And in recent years the Islamist party's discourse has become a lot harsher.
For example, in 2018 they are proposing a change in the penal code to prosecute relations
outside of marriage and between same-sex couples more harshly, and to even make co-habitation
of single couples illegal.
See, right now Indonesia is still a relatively moderate country and most of its population
supports an open democracy and even religious freedom...
But everything points to the probability that in the 2019 elections, the Islamists will
have a larger chance of winning.
And it's clear that we are talking about a future power that can give us many joys...
or many headaches.
See, if the current reforms continue, Indonesia will be a huge market.
For example, it's estimated that by 2030 the Indonesian middle classes will consume
much more than Germany's middle class.
And if religious moderation wins, its influence in the Muslim world will be much stronger.
So we can only hope that Indonesia goes down the right path.
But now it's your turn, do you think we should support Indonesias favrouing of a more
moderate status?
Leave your answer in the comments as well as in the survey.
I really hope you enjoyed this video, please hit like if you did and don't forget to
subscribe to our channel for brand new videos every Monday and Thursday.
Also, don't forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided
the vocals in this episode that were not mine!
And as always, thanks for watching!
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