Yanto Soegiarto – Thousands of students demonstrated in Jakarta last Saturday to commemorate the May 12, 1998, Trisakti University shootings that killed four students – Elang Mulia Lesmana, Heri Hertanto, Hafidin Royan and Hendriawan Sie.
Those shootings and the wider context of economic hardship at that time triggered the collapse of the New Order regime and toppled President Suharto. But despite this remarkable achievement, not enough has changed.
Last weekend, the students carried banners reading "Do we still have human rights in this country?" and "We won't forget the May 12, 1998, tragedy until we die." They demanded justice and compensation for the bereaved families of the victims, still unresolved in the 14th year of the reform era.
To date, there has not even been a formal apology from the government for the killing of the students. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has named the four "martyrs of freedom and reform," but that is not enough. The perpetrators are still at large and there seems to be no serious effort to bring them to justice.
In these economic boom times, it is easy to forget what happened in the late 1990s. But that would be a grave mistake. In mid-1997, due to the Asian financial crisis, the rupiah went into free fall, as did the stock exchange.
A month later, 16 banks closed and thousands of people's savings accounts were frozen. The country's foreign debt stood at $200 billion. Private-sector debt was around $65 billion. Up to 80 percent of corporate Indonesia was technically bankrupt. This left Suharto with no choice but to bow to the International Monetary Fund's far-reaching austerity demands in exchange for a $43 billion recovery package.
By May 1998, the rupiah had lost 80 percent of its value in a year. Foreign exchange reserves almost disappeared and the central bank began to print money recklessly, causing hyperinflation. The crisis deepened and basic survival became a challenge for many as food prices soared while wages were frozen. Subsidies that meant the difference between life and death for millions of Indonesians were cut. And every day people were laid off as companies came crashing down. On average, more than two million workers lost their jobs each month in this period.
Student activists called for change, sparking mass demonstrations. Rioting – fueled by hunger, rising prices and unemployment – destroyed shops, restaurants and churches. Much of the anger was directed at the government and symbols of the ruling class.
Amien Rais, chairman of the 25-million-strong Muhammadiyah organization, led student demonstrations and occupied the House of Representatives – the home of the rubber-stamp lawmakers. As the crisis deepened, pro-democracy demonstrations spread like wildfire across the archipelago.
Suharto called on the military to take stern action against student demonstrators. The Army chief at the time, Gen. Wiranto, and the dean of the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Wiranto Arismunandar, warned students not to take the protests off campus. Many were arrested and some disappeared, presumed dead.
Campuses became battlefields surrounded by water cannons and bombarded with tear gas. Workers, professionals, housewives and even nuns joined the student protests. By May 15, Jakarta was like a deserted battlefield. Few people ventured out. More than 5,000 buildings had been destroyed or damaged. On May 20, Indonesia commemorated National Awakening Day: the birth of Indonesia's nationalist movement. And the following morning, at 9 a.m., Suharto stepped down. A people's movement had ousted him.
May 1998 marks a crucial moment in the history of Indonesia and serves as a lesson – a warning even – to the nation's elites that today is as valid as it ever was. Social justice and the economic welfare of the people must not be neglected. This starts with closure for the families of those four students who paid the ultimate price for the sake of the nation.
[Yanto Soegiarto is the managing editor of Globe Asia, a sister publication of the Jakarta Globe.]