Michael H. Hadylaya, Jakarta – In The Hunger Games, the Capitol glitters while the districts starve. The elites feast, dress extravagantly and stage parades as if hunger were a distant rumor. That was fiction, but in Indonesia today, the parallels feel striking.

The celebration of Indonesia's independence this year revealed a widening divide. Throughout the Independence Month of August, the country was flooded with parades, contests and ceremonies. On the surface, these events project unity and pride. Yet beneath the banners and balloons, many Indonesians whisper about household budgets, rising bills and food that feels more expensive each week. The symbolism of abundance collides with the reality of scarcity.

The contrast sharpened on Aug. 25. Protestors gathered outside the House of Representatives to demand relief from the relentless rise in prices. Their chants carried the anger of citizens who feel squeezed between markets and policies.

At about the same moment, President Prabowo Subianto poured state medals to many of his loyalists in a ceremony at the palace. The two images, citizens crying out for relief and leaders wrapped in ritual, spoke volumes about the disconnect between the governors and the governed.

A policy vacuum sharpens that disconnect. Rising rice prices have persisted despite official claims of stock sufficiency, exposing weaknesses in data accuracy, distribution and oversight. If reports of surplus cannot prevent shelves from emptying, then the public has a reason to question whether policy tools are aligned with real conditions.

Max Weber helps us see why this matters. A government's legitimacy, he argued, rests not only on legal authority but also on the belief that authority serves the public good. Policies that ignore everyday hardship weaken this foundation.

Jean Jacques Rousseau took it further. For him, the social contract binds rulers and citizens in a pact of mutual obligation. When rulers fail to honor that pact, citizens feel not only disappointed but betrayed.

Citizens are not asking for miracles. They are asking for recognition. To admit that conditions are difficult, to offer modest relief and to share in sacrifice would speak more loudly than any parade. What people expect is signs that leaders see what they see, feel what they feel and are willing to stand with them rather than apart from them.

This is the tension between symbolic justice and substantive justice. Independence parades and awards matter. They remind us of history and unity. But when symbolic gestures are not matched by policies that address real hardships, the meaning of these symbols hollows out.

Citizens are feeling the pinch. Middle-class families struggle to make ends meet, the poor face daily survival decisions, and even the wealthy confront economic uncertainty in markets. Ironically, the government risks failing not only substantive justice but symbolic justice as well.

History offers reminders. In 1998, Indonesia initiated sweeping reforms not only because of high prices but because symbols of extravagance amid suffering made the pain unbearable. Across Southeast Asia, governments that mishandled symbolism, from lavish projects to tone-deaf ceremonies, have faced sharp declines in legitimacy. Once trust is broken, technical policies cannot repair it.

This is not to say celebrations must stop. Nations need rituals. Citizens need reminders of collective identity. But rituals can be reframed.

Instead of parades of abundance, Independence Month could highlight solidarity programs or even symbolic gestures of restraint by officials. Such acts do not solve inflation, but they affirm that leaders see and share the burden. In times of strain, symbols can heal the wound.

If the state celebrates freedom while its citizens tighten their belts in silence, the spirit of Independence Month risks losing its meaning. Leaders would do well to remember that legitimacy is not a medal pinned in the palace but a fragile thread of trust, renewed daily through shared understanding of the struggles faced by those they govern.

We require empathy translated into both policy and symbolism. Indonesia's citizens are resilient, but resilience should not be mistaken for silence. When cries of hardship are met with pageantry, the distance between the ruler and the ruled grows dangerous.

To celebrate independence with legitimacy intact, leaders must learn the lessons of both history and governance theory. Economic stability is crucial, but symbolic justice is what binds citizens to their state.

Without it, even the grandest ceremonies risk becoming little more than a Hunger Games of our own making, with actors and actresses who are, frankly, less than impressive.

[The writer is a lecturer at Litigasi School of Law (STIH Litigasi) and an associate of Indonesian Institute of Arbitrators (IARbI). The views expressed are personal.]

Source: https://asianews.network/the-hunger-games-in-the-making-in-indonesias-independence-month