Rice is perhaps the most essential food item for many Indonesian households, judging from the many dishes you can make out of it.

There is stir-fried nasi goreng, with its many spices and toppings.  Maybe a hot bowl of chicken porridge is preferred to start the day, or even just plain steamed white rice to accompany whatever is on the menu.

So close is rice to our hearts that one of the first things you’d see during the start of mass unrest is panicked shoppers hoarding massive bags of rice, perhaps not unlike the Westerners who rushed out to buy toilet paper during the start of the pandemic.

Of course, the issue of food scarcity is no laughing matter, especially during a time of crisis, but are we too dependent on rice for our own good?

In Goethe-Institut’s biweekly discussion Bingkis, journalist and researcher Andi Arif highlighted the current administration’s food estate program, which he said was rather similar to the New Order’s failed Mega Rice Project.

Initiated in 1995, the Mega Rice Project was an ambitious undertaking that aimed to turn 1 million hectares of peatland in Kalimantan into rice paddies, ostensibly to achieve rice self-reliance.

Popular

Anak Krakatau eruption halts flights, schools, fishing

Eight airports remain shut on Monday due to volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau

Barelang Police, Japanese diplomat hold meeting on Batam security