Several people have been targeted by Indonesian authorities for raising the flag from the popular Japanese anime to express discontent with the government. One minister said the act could be considered treason.
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) August 7, 2025
The Indonesian government should stop repressing freedom of… pic.twitter.com/LMX9qB12Ws
Indonesian are doing protest by waving the flag of Jolly Roger from One Piece anime. The movement was first started by Indonesian truckers who usually put Indonesian flag on their truck in August each year to celebrate Indonesian independence day.
In the One Piece story, there are lots of pirates with their own beliefs. They may even have conflicting ideas. However, Indonesian people chose Straw Hat Jolly Roger, the protagonist's flag. The flag of carefree and freedom.
The first instance truckers waving the Jolly Roger were because they had troubles waiting days to get into the ferry boat. They felt they have waited too long and the infrastructure was too much to handle.
Another instance of truckers waving their Jolly Roger were because they were protesting their lives are getting hard. This especially since the new law is being enforced where ODOL (Over Dimension and Over Loading) trucks banned from the road. They felt that big companies should also have the same responsibilities.
These protests with the straw hat flags also draw the other Indonesian whom felt the current government and its chrony only making themselves rich. The Indonesian citizen felt their democracy and their power was being taken little by little. They felt their voice fall into deaf ears.
This kind of problem is not exclusive to Indonesia, mind you. The anti-democracy is being put on all over the world. So, it is not solely on Indonesia alone.
Look at how Trump gives low cut on tariffs to the Saudi because the Saudi gave his family businesses there. Look at Vietnam's low tarriffs because of the 1.5 billion dollars Trump golf courses. And here I felt stupid because our government make deals with Trump with the thinking of talks between nations which made us opening our citizen data.
In the past what Trump did should be ended up with impeachments. However, the grip of the US media made the US citizens doing nothing for these facts. So, high five to the US citizens also?
Anyway...
The Indonesian people still believe in their country and law. They still feel they have voices that can be heard. That's why they use the Jolly Roger flag to remind the politicians that this Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia is also theirs.
People not blind. We feel cheated and unfairness.
Indonesian government want to make the tax higher because Danantara took most funds from state owned companies. It mald the Minister of Finance. So, she tried to take more from taxes to have the fuel to make this country runs. This collapsed many people who still struggling from the pandemic era.
What makes people mad is:
Contrary to that, we saw many of the companies owned by the politicians getting more and more projects. Even more, their companies getting discounts while us citizens getting higher tax. It's not fair.
I don't know where the notion comes from. I have the feeling that the politicians think the citizens as dumb people. May be in the US, but here in Indonesia, we do have many alternatives source of informations. This is because Indonesia is the melting pot of many thoughts and dreams. Many factions have their own source of informations, which is good IMHO because they balanced each other.
I hope the politicians learns to embrace democracy. I know most of them have military background and feel that order of command is the way. But, I don't think that will work with Indonesia. Indonesia is a country that built by the military and the erudites. We share the same feeling.
This country where I was born is my country.
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