TheJakartaPost
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Today’s demonstrations hard to fathom
Virtually every day a new demonstration appears on the streets of Jakarta and many other big cities in the country. I am aware that demonstrations are very much a part of our history, we have had demonstrations since I was a student. But now they are confusing.
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Students protest against the planned revision Criminal Code and the revision to Corruption Eradication Commission law in front of the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Jakarta on Sept. 24. JP/Dhoni Setiawan (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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irtually every day a new demonstration appears on the streets of Jakarta and many other big cities in the country. I am aware that demonstrations are very much a part of our history, we have had demonstrations since I was a student.
But now they are confusing. I don’t think it’s only because I am growing old because a lot of people are confused too. What are the demonstrators fighting for? What are they against?
Demonstrations have taken place in Hong Kong every week for four months, they are pretty chaotic but at least we know what they want, freedom.
They want independence in different degrees from Beijing. In the Indonesian demonstrations, some demonstrate against the revisions to the Corruption Eradication Commission Law, some protest other draft laws that pay less respect to human rights.
There is no single theme that everybody subscribes to, yet everybody seems to support these demonstrations.
It’s quite frustrating if you try to understand them. If you don’t, then there’s always a fear that you might miss out on something disastrous without knowing much about it.
We always teach our children and our brothers and sisters not to be ignorant of things that are going on around us.
