Comparison Between the Indonesian Rupiah, Singapore Dollar and the Malaysian Ringgit. (WARTAKEMA/Andrea Hillary Gusandi)

Warta Kema – The hashtag #KaburAjaDulu became an online movement that took social media by storm earlier this year. The trend itself started as a response towards the political and economic condition of Indonesia that is currently deemed unstable. Soon, it became a full-scale phenomenon that raised the opinions of many on various platforms, particularly from the youth who feel disappointed in the way the government is unable to handle rising domestic issues. A large portion of the posts with the hashtags not only deliver criticism, but also aspirations of Indonesians towards the new government so that they can grow to be more competent in serving the people. 

However, amidst the rising movement of going abroad, the Indonesian currency is experiencing significant inflation. Based on data from Bank Indonesia, as of May, the US dollar exchange rate is at 16.510 rupiah, becoming one of the lowest rates since the reformation era of 1998. The exchange rate towards currencies of neighbouring countries are also going through drastic changes, with the rate towards Malaysian ringgits being at 3.839 rupiah and Singapore dollars being at 12.621 rupiah. Looking at the condition of the currency exchange rate as of late, it is uncertain whether the Kabur Aja Dulu movement will continue. The constant inflation of the Indonesian rupiah can be a possible hindrance to the people who are thinking of going abroad for study or for work. 

In response to this, a professor from the Department of International Relations of Universitas Padjadjaran, Fuad Azmi, mentioned that the Kabur Aja Dulu movement initially started for two main reasons. He stated that the first main reason is the dissatisfaction of the Indonesian people towards the condition of Indonesia specifically in terms of education and job opportunities. 

“The cost of education keeps constantly increasing, yet job opportunities are decreasing. Not only that, salary is also an issue here, so these (the two reasons) become something that the young people pay attention to,” he explained. 

He further elaborated that the second reason why this movement was amplified is because of the government’s response towards the initial reason why people wanted to move. “(Last time) there was either an Indonesian minister that said (amidst the situation) ‘if you leave, then you should not come back.’” This showed that the government took this situation rather lightly. 

However, he mentioned that from the positive side, the movement can be a source for new Indonesian diasporas abroad, which will benefit the country in gaining new assets for soft power. 

When asked on how the inflation of the rupiah can affect the Kabur Aja Dulu movement, he said that there is no direct relationship between the two phenomena. He explained this with the consideration of the reason the movement happened in the first place. 

“Maybe there are some (affected by the weakening currency) like those who live abroad; if they still rely on their parents’ remittances, they might feel it. But I think people escape first due to these two things, the first is for work and the second is for school. The first is clearly for working to find a job, to earn a better income, so when the rupiah experiences inflation, when they can send money back to Indonesia, to their families. I think with the dollar exchange rate, for example, if they earn a salary in dollars, they actually get more (in terms of amount), which actually makes them more enthusiastic (to work).” 

He then added that for those who are going abroad to continue their studies abroad, there are a lot of scholarship schemes available for Indonesian students that will help them with funds. Furthermore, there are several programs such as the ausbildung program in Germany that allows students to work while studying, which decreases their financial dependency on their parents by a large margin. 

On the other hand, the perspective of a student studying abroad towards this issue is actually quite the opposite to what Fuad explained above. Bryan, a student studying in Singapore’s Curtin University, mentioned that the inflation of rupiah took a significant toll on him. “Personally, the main issue with the inflation is of course funds. As a private university student, we are not allowed to work, so funds and allowances are mostly from Indonesia, given to us from our parents,” he explained. He also mentioned that with the inflation, his parents have to work harder to fund his studies. 

Aside from that, Bryan has a contrasting view with Fuad regarding the Kabur Aja Dulu movement. He stated that the movement of the Indonesian people abroad could potentially cost the country a lot of valuable assets. 

“This is not good for our country because we might lose assets (which are) the young generation that has a lot of potential to develop our country into a better nation with possibly better politics in the future. However, we are likely to lose a significant number of them (due to the current situation domestically) and they may no longer want to settle in Indonesia, which is truly unfortunate.”

Reporter: Andrea Hillary Gusandi

Editor: Syafina Ristia Putri, Ammara Azwadiena Alfiantie

Foto: Andrea Hillary Gusandi