Yet, as the nation nears the centenary of that moment, the spirit of renewal that once defined the pemuda (youth) feels adrift.

Indonesia remains young in demographics but old in its power, ideas and habits. The contradictions that confront today’s youth are stark: they are numerous but politically complacent; celebrated as a demographic bonus yet treated as disposable; expressive in voice but struggling to author a narrative of their own.

If 1928 was the youth’s idea against colonialism, what idea will define them now, against inequality, precarity and complacency? In 20 years’ time, the country that the pemuda envisioned almost a century ago will mark its centenary. But will it be one that today’s youth can draw and shape?

In their ground-breaking 2025 study, Complacent Democrats, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, Eve Warburton and Liam Gammon reveal an unsettling paradox: Indonesia’s Gen-Z, who will form more than one-third of voters by 2029, express strong support for democracy but little commitment to its practice. They cherish stability and predictability over participation and reform.

This is not apathy born of ignorance but of adaptation, to a system that rewards conformity and penalizes dissent. In a political order where ideology has been replaced by branding, and civic trust by celebrity, pragmatism becomes survival.

The late-August unrest over the House of Representatives members’ lavish housing allowances and the death of an online transportation delivery driver struck by a police armored car ignited a brief wave of outrage across the country.