My thoughts on the new President

There you have it. Ever since I was legally able to vote in 2014, I never thought I’d see Prabowo win an election, especially with a rather peculiar running mate. I voted for Jokowi in 2014 and 2019 simply because I just can’t imagine having such a (alleged, yeah, so they said) war criminal as president.

I was in Bandung for a friend’s wedding. My bandmates decided to rent a villa in Lembang to spend a weekend together. So my wife and I spent a night at a hotel, went to the wedding the next morning, then drove off to Lembang after an afternoon coffee with my college mates.

We spent Saturday night cooking noodles and beef short plate. The night was good; we got to talk deeply about our future as a band that will soon fade away slowly (due to adulthood).

Then came Sunday morning. We had breakfast, some smokes, and then turned on the TV. I assumed that, alongside ours, hundreds of millions of eyeballs were glued to the TV, seeing a new president-elect on his way to the parliament building to be sworn in.

As a history buff, one moment stood out to me. Seeing Xanana Gusmão, the prime minister of Timor-Leste, who once went to war for independence against the Indonesian military, hug Prabowo (who conducted a scorched-earth policy in East Timor back in the 80s) warmly just minutes before the inauguration.

His inaugural speech sounds… okay… I guess. But I remain concerned.

I was just a kid when SBY got elected president. I didn’t know much about SBY in the military. But 2004 to 2014 seems… kinda okay (for me who lives in Bekasi). Fast forward to now, knowing his style of leadership back in the 80s and 90s, I can’t even be cautiously optimistic about his views on democracy, especially his seemingly weird programs like the free lunches for school kids.

I personally don’t think the new capital city is going anywhere significant. I believe there will be a period of stagnation, bad leadership across the upcoming cabinet, and more things that leave us feeling pessimistic.

My take: find work overseas, find a way to keep money elsewhere, keep your friends and allies closer than ever.