Is Indonesia a First World or Third World Country?
Beggars sleep outside Grand Indonesia mall in Jakarta. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal) Chances are that if you're able to read and speak English, you're one of the few 50 million middle-class Indonesians who spend at the very least $2 a day.
In 2011, Indonesia's gross domestic product grew 6.49 percent and Finance Minister Agus Martowartodjo claimed the title as Best Finance Minister of the Year 2012 - Global and Asia-Pacific award from the Banker magazine. Our GDP per capita was about $3,500 in 2011, putting Indonesians in the lower-middle income class.
In late February this year, the Economist reported a poll, conducted by research company Ipsos, that measured degrees of happiness. The survey showed that Indonesians are among the happiest people in the world, followed by people in India and Mexico, with South Koreans placing at the bottom of the list.
The results raise an important question about the validity of the research. Despite the frequent positive news, about 12 percent of the population live on less than $2 per day, and the gap between the rich and poor in Indonesia is worrying. The contrast is evident, especially in Jakarta, where the gap between the middle class and the poor resembles the gap between people in the first world and third world.
Does anybody still remember the BlackBerry accident in 2011? About 2,000 customers were enthusiastically lining up to buy the latest gadget, which caused a commotion just like when poor people were fighting for sembako during the 1997 economic crisis. In Jakarta, the members of the middle class are concerned with first world problems while the poor are struggling to satisfy basic survival needs like eating 2,000 calories per day.
This situation is worsened by the fact that Indonesia is not a welfare state and it does not have a social security system. The poor citizens who cannot gain access to the job market end up as beggars.
I once rode a TransJakarta bus and noticed the disabled beggar who normally stands in front of my office actually sitting in front of me, wearing a nice batik. He did not resemble a beggar at all. From what I have read in several news sources, beggars have formed an association to coordinate their standby location.
The government can boast that Indonesia has reached investment grade, meaning that more money will become a target of foreign investors. More factories, roads and infrastructure are being built. However, these economic developments are still not inclusive.
They are alienating those people who are systematically poor. The disabled people, for example, are still unable to compete in the job market equally due to their disabilities, and they have no other option but to become beggars.
Unless the social security system is implemented, Indonesia's economic growth will divide the society into first-world and third-world citizens.
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