The uniform fanfare, as it were, stands almost in stark contrast to this diverse nation that is home to more than 800 different languages, 300 ethnicities and six recognized faiths.

The jubilee is all but unexpected. After all, Indonesia is the eighth most patriotic nation in the world, according to a 2022 poll from global survey company YouGov, with 14 percent of respondents answering positively to the statement that Indonesia was “the best country in the world”.

Indonesia has come a long way from being an “imagined political community”, as per the famous 1983 edict from historian Benedict Anderson, which painted the concept of nationalism in a largely positive light.

However, local professionals and researchers alike are growing increasingly worried that Indonesia’s nationalism has turned toxic, citing glaring instances of growing intolerance at a recent focused group discussion The Jakarta Post hosted in Central Jakarta. The work of defining a national identity and the boundaries of loving one’s country is thus unfinished, the panel said.

Melbourne University history PhD candidate Ravando Lie, the only panelist to tune in virtually to the discussion, defined toxic nationalism as a sentiment that, rather than uniting, divided people into categories. While the manifestation of this toxicity has been seen time and time again in the numerous tragedies that have befallen the country’s minority groups, the “destructive” sentiment has also more recently bled into Indonesia’s vast online spaces.

“When Indonesia was suspended from the All England Tennis Tournament [due to close contact with COVID-19], Indonesia’s netizens swarmed to harass the [organizer’s] profile so that it had to deactivate its account,” said Ravando.

Popular

Much ado about asset forfeiture

Mass poisonings cast doubt on free meals reforms

New data rules could unlock cross-border data flows