Omnibus Law

This news popped up in my google news feed this morning: 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54460090: 

Indonesia: Thousands protest against 'omnibus law' on jobs

Usually I do not comment on a neighbouring country's news, because I know how touchy Malaysians and Indonesians get on almost every issue: badminton, football, food, songs, artistes, batik, politics... and the list goes on... but today I'd like to highlight this piece of law that has caused furore amongst working class Indonesians.

[NOTE: I haven't read the law yet but have asked my student from Jakarta, about where I can get hold of the full copy]

Let me start with this: working class Indonesians are probably the hardest working people I know. The ones who opt to work here in Malaysia can and have become successful if they manage their money well & have clear objectives. A lady who works as a cleaner at my office earned enough money to put his son through high school and university. Same like my former home helper: her son completed university funded by his mom's Malaysian job; he went on to work in Bali for the tourism industry [I suspect that he probably would be back in Madura now, since Bali will be closed to tourists till December]... last I heard, my home helper has started buying materials to build her house on a plot of land (also bought using money from her working stint in Malaysia).

At the university, I had the privilege of teaching the wealthy Indonesians' offsprings. They are wealthy, well-mannered, speak good English, and did I say they're wealthy? One time a student lost her Macbook, and she bought a new one within the same week. (Context: I can barely afford one on my salary). Many often go on holidays in Malaysia (especially before the MCO), their families come here for their children's graduation and stay the week for shopping. Their choice of food is Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway.. the choice for teens these days. Rather 'affluent' choices, even by Malaysian standards. So in contrast, this group has the good things in life.. no complaints there, as my university and myself are recipients of a share of this wealth.

Hence I was able to deduce that there is a class gap between the very rich and the poor who made the difficult choice to leave their children/ family to earn more, for a better life. 

Now, let's preview the news item: it was reported that large numbers of workers have protested against this law, "that critics say will harm workers and the environment"

The law intended to reduce red tape when doing business (as reportedly said by their President), while other news report have mentioned the public concern that in supporting the 'capitalists', employees' rights and the requirement for environmental impact assessment have been reduced.

As mentioned earlier, I have not read the actual law itself (although summaries are available e.g. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/02/21/guide-to-omnibus-bill-on-job-creation-1028-pages-in-8-minutes.html) so this write-up only covers the review of newspaper articles read this morning.

My final & general comment (not specifically for Indonesia but for Malaysia & the developing nations in general): it is good that the government is consolidating the labour laws to revive the economy (by making it easier to do business), however workers' protests usually indicate that something is not quite right somewhere. The leaders could probably sit down with trade union leaders and activists to understand their perspective, apart from doing focus group studies with manufacturers/ employers. Workers' rights in my view should be increased over time: for example, as the country's wealth increases minimum wage and minimum protection for workers should also 'inflate'... this will improve the overall standard of living for the nation. At the same time, being a mini/ small scale environmentalist, economic growth should not be at the expense of environmental destruction. Green belts should be maintained. Replanting is absolutely necessary (althouh not many do it, I am referring to Malaysia & the commonly experienced landslides). One of the talks about 'environmentalism' that I remember was about the Easter Island: the person who cut the last tree on that island realised that he & his family would eat today, but the next generation would not (or something around these lines). We should have continuity of resources for now & the future, so I do hope that the laws that we pass will have that foresight.