I don’t understand why people aren’t that mad yet
Recently, I just posted a tweet (or a post, whatever) on Twitter/X expressing my frustration towards a rather thought provoking advertisement on a billboard. They were advertising a house, priced at 10 billion rupiah with a private white-sanded beach as “property’s facility”. Insane.
I will name names. The billboard is strategically located at the very end of Taman Palem Residence, placed side by side with RSUD (County General Hospital) Cengkareng as well as poverty ridden slum of East Cengkareng. Once it rained twice for two days straight in the area; it flooded so badly, it didn’t dry up for three days. Outrageous.
How is people not mad yet?
Teach your kids class awareness
I am so-very serious about it. Exhibit A, is for the untouchable rich parents. Teach your kids class awareness! Some months ago I got the skin on my nose burned because I skipped sunscreen in my skincare routine. It was so bad that it was even visible after a series of cooling down and make up. I had to (still have to) ride my motorcycle everywhere in Cengkareng. Getting my skin burned is inevitable, eventually. When I showed up to work, one of my sweet students asked me, ‘Miss what happened with your nose?’
‘Oh! It’s burned. It was so hot today,’ I was happy they asked.
‘What? How come?’ Their clueless face flown so many question marks up to the air.
‘Yeah! I was riding my motorcycle and I faced the sun for too long. So there’s that.’
‘Why don’t you just ask your chauffeur to pick you up, Miss?’
God. God please spare this child. I was taken aback so surprisingly and I had to laugh it out in front of them. One class awareness for the young lad and lass over here, please!
Mind you, it wasn’t their fault. They were barely 10 years old. It was certainly their parents fault for not carefully outlining that their lavish lifestyle is, in fact, not a norm at all. It is not normal to be that rich.
Exhibit B, is for people that are also well in the rust like me. I have been bronze-spoon fed nowadays because of my dad. But, ever since Cengkareng happened to my life, safe to say that I am almost living from pay check to pay check. So, I am quite literally poor.
I think you guys need to be more mad. Look at Exhibit A and how do you feel about it? Do you know that their monthly school tuition is higher than your pay check? Assuming we are in the UMR/minimum wage level. How can you not be mad seeing an advertisement for a house priced at 10 billion rupiah as if it is a price that ever makes sense? Why are we not rioting yet? Even with 36x instalment without interest it is about 56 times your monthly pay, each month. Someone out there has 56 times of your pay to spare for a house. Please let that sink in.
A few days ago when I was waiting at the admission room in RSUD Cengkareng, there were two toddlers that won’t stop moving. They caused my overstimulation but that’s beside the point. I noticed they were very fascinated towards the fact that my phone is an iPhone. They were very curious about my phone and how it looked different. You (the parent) wouldn’t have known because you didn’t care enough. But that’s the reality.
Me using an iPhone to book my therapy appointment is a huge-ass privilege that many don’t share. These kids, for once, will hopefully realised that their reality is also not normal. It is not normal to be fascinated with an iPhone. Not saying that everyone should get one but a good phone to sustain one’s daily life shouldn’t be a privilege. My iPhone shouldn’t look like a luxury phone. It should just be like any other phone.
Let’s get technical
Isn’t that outrageous? Do you know that when 1 rupiah equals to 0,000071 US Dollar on February 1998, it caused a nation-wide riot? Exactly. We are somewhere between that line, if I have to say.
Very recently, the elected president Prabowo Subianto — who is also behind the mass-murder and the killing among the riot in 1998, by the way — and his team also clarified that the flagship programme of the then presidential candidature, the nation-wide free lunch (makan siang gratis) is yet to be reduced on its budgeting (Read more on Kompas). The presidential candidate previously said that the budgeting will come from the state budget (APBN) amounting to 71 trillion rupiah and it will entirely up to the current regime leader, Jokowi, to set at 2025 state budget for Indonesia (Read more on CNN).
All these are bad enough without mentioning the ambitious programme of IKN (Ibu Kota Nusantara) that was said to be ignoring the expert’s suggestion as well as one of the biggest consulting company in the world, McKinsey’s, recommendation to not proceed with the project in the, now designated, area.
These are just the big fish. I have not yet proceed to talk about how badly Bandung and West Java was managed for the last ten years. How many mayors and governors are suspect of corruption? How many police brutality and budgeting misused? Not to mention also the gigantic fish of the Covid-19 pandemic where people waste money and resources only for gimmicks and ceremonial stuffs?
Why aren’t we all mad yet?
All in all, I am asking for everyone to realise that this is not just some dark joke of not being rich and wishing to be one. Oh, how good it is to just be one indeed. But, I certainly hope that people are getting more and more aware of their class condition; that most of us are not living the way a normal person should live. That is certainly not okay.
Be aware. Be aware that we are not okay. We should not be okay with this.
Tulisan ini dibuat untuk Pekan #NyariTantangan dengan tema “Tidak Suka Tapi Tetap Ditulis — Ekonomi”. Yuk #NyariTantangan bersama Nyarita!
My choosen topic for the Pekan #NyariTantangan is Economy. I hate Economy so much it boils my blood talking about it. Not because it is so bad but it literally is that important and directly affecting my life. It continue to boils my blood every time that I resent it.
Also, another reason is because I studied Accounting in highschool. Not just any accounting but 8 hours per week worth of accounting. So, yeah. Kinda sick of it as well.
