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Home > Dialogika Podcast > Episode 36: Anies Baswedan Presents Make Indonesia Great Again
Podcast: Dialogika Podcast
Episode:

Episode 36: Anies Baswedan Presents Make Indonesia Great Again
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:22:36
Publish Date: 2017-11-01 20:45:50
Description: In this episode, we discuss the new Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan and his inaugural speech, in which he used the controversial word "pribumi," which refers to the indigenous Indonesian population. We unpack the segregationist history of this term, specifically in the context of targetting the "non-pribumi," which since Dutch colonial rule has almost exclusively been the Chinese-Indonesians. Anies' use of the term "pribumi" is deeply unsettling as it revives the damaging and dangerous anti-Chinese rhetoric that influenced the tragedy of May 1998 and, more recently, the ethnic tensions surrounding Ahok's blasphemy case and the gubernatorial elections, which Anies profited from. We talk about how other politicians have reacted (or not reacted) to this controversy and discuss the laws that were set in place by previous presidents to prevent the use of both terms. Finally, we wrap things up by reflecting on Anies' speech and the tone of it in light of the 2019 presidential elections, which is less than 2 years away. Even though we're disappointed with how politicians and ministers have reacted to Anies' speech, we are inspired by the many young Indonesian netizens — pribumi and non-pribumi — who have criticized Anies' speech, reported him to the police for spreading racist rhetoric, and came out in support of the Chinese-Indonesians.
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