A Marhaen resurgent:
when protest and righteous anger in Indonesia
meant more than saying Enough
The roar of Indonesia’s streets recently echoes a century-old question: who truly rules this republic—the elite or the marhaen?
The recent protests—sparked by lawmakers awarding themselves 50 million rupiah in monthly housing allowances while the average Jakartan scrapes by on a tenth of that—have been described as riots, chaos, even treason. Yet, what millions witnessed across the archipelago was not mere disorder, but the awakening of Sukarno’s forgotten spirit: Marhaenism, the philosophy that once promised to anchor the nation in the dignity of its ordinary people.
As the streets of Jakarta and countless cities across Indonesia are burning with anger. Videos of smashed glass, barricades, and armored police vehicles are easy to dismiss as “chaos.” But to reduce the current wave of protests to mere anarchy is to miss the deeper truth: this is not the tantrum of a mob. This is righteous rage, long restrained by the false promises of “order” and “sobriety,” now uncontainable.
What Sparked the Fire?
The spark was as scandalous as it was symbolic. Lawmakers quietly secured a housing allowance of 50 million rupiah—nearly $3,000 per month—while the average worker in Jakarta survives on a minimum wage barely a tenth of that. In a country grappling with job losses, austerity cuts, and soaring taxes, this revelation was not just tone-deaf—it was gasoline on dry grass.
- Over 42,000 factory jobs have disappeared this year.
- Property and land taxes in regions like Java have spiked up to 400–1,000%.
- Cuts in education and healthcare are hitting families hardest, while welfare programs are often poorly targeted.
For ordinary Indonesians, the message was unmistakable: sacrifice is for the people, perks are for the elite.
The Marhaen Forgotten
Years ago, Sukarno met Marhaen, a poor farmer near Bandung, and saw in him the face of Indonesia’s masses—exploited, silenced, yet brimming with dignity. Marhaenism was meant to be the nation’s foundation: sovereignty for the smallholder, justice for the worker, freedom for the poor.
But recent events would say that the marhaen has been betrayed—not only by elites but by the very system that once claimed to liberate him. The tragic death of 21-year-old Affan Kurniawan, a ride-hailing driver crushed by a police armored vehicle, crystallized this betrayal. Affan was the modern marhaen: precarious, struggling, expendable. His blood on the asphalt became the people’s rallying cry, a brutal reminder that the state often protects its privileges before its people.
The Numbers Behind the Rage
(and trying to save an unjust order from a just chaos)
The scale of the unrest speaks for itself:
- 6–8 dead, more than 469 injured, and over 3,000 arrested.
- Regional parliaments and government buildings torched.
- Tens of thousands taking to the streets in places like Pati Regency, where land-tax hikes reached 250%.
President Prabowo Subianto has since rolled back the perks, canceled foreign trips, and promised investigations. Yet at the same time, his administration branded some protesters as “rioters,” “treasonous,” or even “terrorists.” Worse, there are fencesitters who, assuming themselves as Critics—particularly from abroad or from the comfort of air-conditioned boardrooms—warn that such unrest will “hurt the economy, scare off investors, damage tourism, and weaken democracy.”
But let’s be honest: what democracy? One where lawmakers quietly enrich themselves while the majority struggles? One where a gig worker is crushed under the wheels of state machinery? They cry "due process" and "rule of law" as these protesters loot the houses of solons who chose to be aloof over the people's plight- the question is, does these critics really spoke on behalf of these marhaens whose calls as just? Or they are reacting simply because these marhaens gone "violent" after a vehicle ran after a struggling worker?
The fact is this: the marhaens have sought that scene, anf thus rejected such hypocrisy. It insisted that the measure of a nation was not the comfort of the elite but the dignity of its farmers, workers, and poor.
More than “Mob Rule”
To call this “mob rule” is to ignore history. Revolutions, uprisings, and movements for dignity are always messy, always disruptive. But disruption is often the only language left when the state refuses to listen. Indonesia’s protesters are not clamoring for anarchy; they are demanding dignity, accountability, and fairness in a system that has denied them all three.
If anything is barbaric, it is not the rage of the people—it is the arrogance of elites who loot public wealth and then hide behind the fragile veneer of “order.” Indonesia’s unrest is more than a flash of anger. It is a call to rediscover the moral spine of Marhaenism. This does not mean blind nostalgia or authoritarian appropriation of Sukarno’s image. It means reviving the spirit of justice and equality that gave Indonesia its soul:
- Re-centering policy on the ordinary citizen, not investors or oligarchs.
- Rejecting austerity that punishes the poor while shielding the powerful.
- Demanding accountability when state violence spills the blood of workers.
They don't want the scenario that benefited the elites using the veneer of "new order" and its sanitized version of "pancasila" after the tragic events of 30th September. They want to take back nationalism and people's welfare back from those who pretend to be as such- that the marhaen's action is more than just a flash of anger. It is a call to rediscover the moral spine of Marhaenism. This does not mean blind nostalgia or authoritarian appropriation of Sukarno’s image. It means reviving the spirit of justice and equality that gave Indonesia its soul.
The People’s Verdict
If the elites continue to ignore this cry, the marhaen will not remain patient. For when oppression deepens, rebellion is no longer a threat—it is a promise.
Perhaps that is what these protests truly signify: not chaos, but a resurgent Marhaenism, demanding once again that Indonesia belong to its people, not its parasites.