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Johannes Nugroho

As President Prabowo Subianto continues to feel pressure from the students-led “Dark Indonesia” protest movement over his austerity measures, he has received unexpected support from a major organisation representing the country’s ethnic Chinese minority.
Formed after the fall of Suharto in 1998, the Indonesian Chinese Clans Social Association (PSMTI) represents hundreds of thousands of Chinese-Indonesians.
At the organisation’s Lunar New Year event in Surabaya on Sunday, its National Honorary Board Chairman Teguh Kinarto urged members to support Prabowo’s vision for a “Golden Indonesia,” a reference to his plan to transform the nation into a developed economy by 2045.
At the same event, real estate tycoon Paulus Totok Lusida, PSMTI East Java’s advisory board chairman, said despite the mounting economic challenges faced by Indonesia, “Chinese-Indonesians must be at the vanguard at keeping the nation’s peace”.
Made Supriatma, a political scientist and fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said Prabowo’s support among Chinese-Indonesians was an “interesting turn of events”, given the president’s involvement in the suppression of student protests in the 1998 riots.
He said that former president Joko Widodo, who defeated Prabowo in the 2014 and 2019 elections, “garnered almost total support from Chinese-Indonesians then because of their past trauma with Prabowo over the 1998 allegations”.

In 2019, Widodo invited his former rival to become the country’s defence minister and later endorsed Prabowo’s run for last year’s presidency alongside his son Gibran Rakabuming.
During the 1998 riots, thousands of Chinese-owned homes and businesses were looted and set ablaze across Indonesia. While Prabowo had admitted to his involvement in the kidnapping of student democracy activists in 1998, he insisted that he was not responsible for the riots.
As part of Prabowo’s “efficiency drive”, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology announced earlier this month that its 2025 budget would be cut, leading to speculations of a reduction in scholarship and research funds. Hasan Nasbi, the presidential chief communications officer, dismissed the rumours on February 14.
Last week, university students protested across Indonesia to demand that education spending and benefits for lecturers should not be cut. They also called for a review of the free school lunch scheme – a cornerstone of Prabowo’s election campaign last year.
Angie Laurentsia, PSMTI East Java treasurer, said she had never detected “a whiff of anti-Chinese sentiments” emanating from Prabowo’s administration.
“In fact, we put on our gala dinner due to urgings from the East Java government, which acted on instruction from the top to do our best to support the conservation of our Chinese Peranakan culture.”
Despite Prabowo’s efforts to win over the support of Chinese-Indonesians, Made said “past trauma” associated with Prabowo would not be easy to erase.

“The trauma from Prabowo’s suspected involvement in the 1998 riots remains in the collective memory of Chinese Indonesians, although they probably wouldn’t like to express it openly.”
But Made noted the experience of Chinese-Indonesians today was very different from the 1990s, such as in the business arena.
“Indonesians are discovering the old stereotypes about Chindos [a colloquial term for Chinese-Indonesians] as a rapacious bunch of tycoons in control of the country’s economy are inaccurate today, with the rapid rise of ‘indigenous or pribumi’ entrepreneurs,” he said.
With the dominance of the “pribumi” retail entrepreneurs, “Chindos” have abandoned the sector, according to Made. “We rarely see Chinese Indonesian traders and shop owners at traditional markets.”
Lawyer and youth activist Kevin agreed with the analysis, saying: “Most of my contemporaries refused to continue their parents’ business and would rather strike out on their own into the professional sphere, working for the corporate sector.
“The upside of this new trend is that it’s almost impossible now to pigeon-hole Chindos as being overwhelmingly dominant in Indonesia’s economy.”
Kevin Sugiantoro, a business lawyer who is secretary of the East Java Association of Young Chinese Indonesians (IPTI), said many Chinese Indonesians sympathised with the demands of the student protesters, particularly regarding Prabowo’s education budget cuts.

“Education will determine the quality of our future generations and making cuts to this fundamental sector makes no sense and would be a step in the wrong direction for Indonesia.”
Indonesia’s economy rose by 5.03 per cent in 2024, its slowest pace in three years and far below the 8 per cent target set by Prabowo for his term, which will end in 2029.
The country’s mounting economic challenges have affected Chinese Indonesians, according to Kevin. In recent years, Kevin has helped many young Chinese Indonesians who were involved in start-ups to file for bankruptcies.
“I’ve heard so many young Chinese Indonesians, especially fresh university graduates, complain about how difficult it is to find jobs these days.”
As such, Kevin said Chinese Indonesians should do more to shape the country’s future.
“We must also offer constructive and fair criticism of Prabowo’s policies because the stakes for our nation are too high.”


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‘Dark Indonesia’ protesters near the presidential palace in Jakarta on February 21.  Photo: EPA-EFE

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Indonesia was rocked by student protests last week over President Prabowo Subianto’s education budget cuts


Indonesia was rocked by student protests last week over President Prabowo Subianto’s education budget cuts.


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Chinese-Indonesian group backs Prabowo as austerity drive bites

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Indonesia was rocked by student protests last week over President Prabowo Subianto’s education budget cuts

Indonesia was rocked by student protests last week over President Prabowo Subianto’s education budget cuts