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#KaburAjaDulu: Beyond full stomachs, toward full lives
The urgency of the free nutritious meals initiative has led to significant budgetary reallocations, with the government enforcing widespread expenditure cuts across ministries and state institutions to fund the flagship program.
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LPDP has sent thousands of Indonesia’s brightest students each year to leading universities at home and abroad, financing their tuition fee as well as living costs. (Courtesy of/Shutterstock)
T
he #KaburAjaDulu (just run away first) phenomenon is a silent scream from Indonesia’s youth, a protest without placards, a movement without marches. This viral expression on social media captures an eruption of anger over deep-rooted socio-economic issues: limited job opportunities, rising inequality, uncertain government policies and a bleak future outlook.
Despite a decline in the national unemployment rate to 4.91 percent in August 2024, youth unemployment remains alarmingly high, 15.34 percent for those aged 20–24 and 7.14 percent for those aged 25–29. Moreover, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), approximately 10 million Indonesians fell from middle-class status to the aspiring middle class between 2019 and 2024.
Meanwhile, inequality persists, with the Gini ratio at 0.381 in September 2024, highlighting a stark divide between privilege and struggle. Social media accelerates this sentiment, transforming personal anxieties into collective awareness. Viral trends and digital success stories fuel the belief that opportunity lies elsewhere.
Yet, beyond anger, #KaburAjaDulu also embodies hope. It reflects not only a desire to escape but a pursuit of something better, where young people seek careers, education and opportunities abroad rather than remaining confined to a system that stifles their potential. It is a quiet call to action: Indonesia must offer more than mere “survival”; it must create opportunities so that running away becomes a choice, not a necessity.
If we look closely, the #KaburAjaDulu phenomenon is, in fact, far deeper than merely a resource or utility issue, it also pertains to the problems of well-being and individual freedom in molding one’s own life.
This phenomenon can be better understood through the capability approach, a framework developed by Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen. This approach is widely used to assess development, justice and particularly well-being.
Instead of focusing on income or wealth as the standard measure in measuring an individual’s or society’s well-being, the capability approach emphasizes the importance of freedom and agency for each individual to choose what they value in achieving their desired well-being and act accordingly. It is based on the fundamental assumption that each person has different needs, meaning that well-being cannot be assessed solely by a single metric such as GDP.
