Hey everyone. It's the 31st now, and I can't sleep or focus doing translation. I've been glued to TikTok all night, watching the updates from the demonstrations, and I need to share what's happening. Things are getting even more severe and complicated.
So, remember yesterday when I talked about those DPR members who were caught vacationing abroad? Well, on the evening of 28th until morning of the 30th, the internet was flooded with people sharing the complete home address of Ahmad S. (the one in Singapore). His response was something like, "So what if the public knows my address? I've said my house is open to them." It sounded like a challenge, right?
Well, on the evening of the 30th, his house was looted. And the public's reaction? Many people were openly happy about it. Then, late that night or early this morning, other DPR members whose addresses were also leaked had their homes looted by "the public."
But here's what feels suspicious to me. The first home that was looted was unguarded, which was strange enough. But for the others, it's even weirder—they did have security. There were police and TNI (the Indonesian National Army) personnel on guard, but they did absolutely nothing except watch as 'civilians' looted the houses. They just stood by and let it happen.
Let's be real—in the middle of all this chaos, these powerful officials are on vacation abroad, and the security forces tasked with protecting their property just stand and watch? It makes no sense.
This feels even more like a trap. Today, news also came out that residents near Ahmad's house had been hearing rumors for days that a 'looting' was going to happen there. There's even a video that not only films someone shouting things like "Come on, just loot it, take everything!" but also shows that the person shouting didn't actually go in or take anything themselves.
This feels connected to the sudden, coordinated fires in multiple cities yesterday. It all seems coordinated script, designed to create chaos.
My growing suspicion about this being a planned operation is backed by another major leak that's circulating. There's a Telegram group chat showing what appears to be paid provocateurs.
Basically, these people are allegedly being paid to be anarchic agitators. Their job is to destroy bus stops and public facilities—the very things we've been seeing burn. Their clear goal is to get the real protesters blamed.
They're the ones throwing rocks, starting fires, and causing chaos. This gives the media and the police the perfect excuse to capture footage that makes the entire protest look like a violent riot. It completely drowns out the protesters' original message and makes them look like the problem, allowing the government to ignore the actual issues everyone is demonstrating about.
It's the oldest trick in the book: create chaos to discredit a movement and change the narrative.
The demonstrations last night lasted until around 4:30 this morning. From what I've seen on TikTok (and I've been screen-recording and reposting like crazy because evidence gets deleted fast), a mass shooting did happened in Jakarta and other parts of the country where demo is still happen when night comes. The police turned off all the street lights and started with rubber bullets. But one account, from someone who knows a person working in television, reported that after midnight, all journalists were forced to leave because the police had been given authorization to use live ammunition.
You might be confused—I said national TV wasn't covering it. They aren't. This footage is from journalists and citizens uploading directly to social media, bypassing the official blackout.
Journalists and reporters from national TV stations and other outlets were specifically targeted by undercover police "intel" agents who were disguised as protesters. Many were so scared they had to hide, and thankfully, some protesters and ojol drivers helped sneak them to safety.
I saw a video of what looked like helpless, incapacitated civilians being thrown into a river. I saw a live stream where the person in front of the camera (not the one that doing live) was hit by what was clearly live ammunition. It was... graphic. His head... you can imagine it. Even before that, there was already a victim of a rubber bullet shot directly in the center of their forehead, right between the eyes. The rubber bullet didn't penetrate; it was just lodged there.
The demos aren't just in Jakarta anymore. For example, in Solo, police blocked ambulances and medics from entering the protest area to help the injured. In another video from the same night, medics were beaten by police. Later, a group of ambulances reportedly "stormed" the local police station in protest.
Now, let's talk about the fire at the DPRD building in Makassar that killed people. The last voice message from a staff photographer inside the building has been circulating. In it, you can hear him struggling to breathe, saying he's running out of air. The comments on these posts are exactly what you'd expect: "Protests are okay, but don't be anarchists," "Why isn't this as viral as the Ojol's death?", "I knew the protests would turn violent." etc. While some concern might be genuine, it's clearly being used to turn citizens against each other.
I have a very strong suspicion that all of this—the fires, the unguarded houses, the extreme police response—is part of a planned escalation, to create this exact outcome.
My biggest fear is that this is all leading to martial law.
Let me explain what that would mean. When protests become "uncontrollable," the government can declare a state of emergency, and the TNI (the Indonesian National Army) could take over security from the police. This is incredibly dangerous. The military doesn't mess around. They can arrest or even make anyone "disappear" because they suspect them without normal legal procedures. Civilian rule would be suspended. Basic rights like free speech, assembly, and a free press would be gone. The economy would crash as foreign investors pull out, leading to mass layoffs (massive waves of job terminations, known locally as PHK). Human rights violations would skyrocket.
This isn't just a theory. It happened in Indonesia less than 30 years ago under President Suharto, a former general who ruled for over 30 years with the military in full control. Here's the chilling part: the current president, Prabowo, is Suharto's former son-in-law. Prabowo himself is a alleged severe human rights violator, accused of atrocities during the traumatic events of 1998. He's also known to be very close to figures like Donald Trump.
Basically, I'm terrified that the genuine protests of people who just want to be heard are being manipulated. They're being hijacked to create chaos that justifies a military takeover. This would allow Prabowo to solidify a power structure just like Suharto's.
Think about it: it's been almost a week of massive, nationwide protests, and there has been no meaningful response from the DPR or the President. It's like they're letting it burn. Some DPR members are even making comments and do things that seem designed to inflame public anger.
On top of all this, it's already hard to find a job here. I've heard rumors that several large companies are planning to pull out of Indonesia. If that happens, the mass layoffs will be devastating, and our economy will be shattered.
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It's now 12:18 AM on September 1st.
The information blackout is real. Last night, from about 4:45 AM to 5 AM, all the posts about the demonstrations slowly vanished from my TikTok "For You" page. I finally went to sleep and woke up around 10 AM, continue on translating 'The Invincible Money-Grubbing Fairy' as I almost done translate the whole novel.
When I took a break and scrolled through TikTok, it was eerie. There was almost nothing about the protests on my FYP. I saw less than 10 related videos, which is drastically less than usual. It felt like the platform had been scrubbed clean.
I commented on a few posts, agreeing with others that everything felt very suspicious. I replied to someone asking "why?" with this:
"So they can spin the narrative further. If things get bad enough, it can escalate to 'Martial Law.' Remember who our elected president is. Remember who our second president was. He probably wants to be like his father-in-law was."
I also mentioned the leak about the paid Telegram groups whose job is to burn, loot, and create anarchy. I even included a screenshot of the info.
Well, around 8:30 PM, my comment was deleted for "violating community guidelines." It really irked me. When I looked into it, I saw it wasn't just me—many people trying to spread awareness were also having their posts and comments removed.
Even now, my TikTok is not showing any further information about demonstrations for today. I'm not sure if they are still happening tonight.
The few demo-related videos that did make it to my FYP today were mostly about the provocateurs who were caught on camera. What's striking is how calm they all were while committing anarchic acts like burning public transport, cutting and destroy optic cables. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing—like professionals, or people who are very used to this—and they didn't seem afraid at all. They mostly worked alone, like they had specific targets.
Just as I feared, the protests have been heavily infiltrated. Thanks to the power of netizens, several undercover agents and infiltrators from the police and TNI (Indonesian National Army) have had their identities exposed. They were often the ones triggering or committing the violent acts. Some of these paid infiltrators even have groups on Telegram or Instagram to coordinate this anarchic activities.
In a horrifying incident, a journalist from a national TV station was caught by intelligence agents and police while he was hiding around 4 AM this morning. He was live-streaming when they found him, beat him until he was groaning in pain, and then his live feed suddenly cut off. News about him, a guy named Leo, came out around 7 PM on my feed. He was covered in wounds and bruises, and his head was bandaged with cotton.
Tragically, there is one confirmed death from the demonstrations. He was a student from AMIKOM University in Yogyakarta. His body was covered in wounds, his neck was broken and stomach were covered in boot prints, his skull was fractured, and his body had many slash wounds.
There are also civilian casualties who weren't even protesting. One grandmother was affected because tear gas fired by the police hit her neighborhood. Reports say her eyes were in pain and she couldn't breathe. It's hard to know about other victims because, as I said, there's almost no news on my feed.
There are also reports that TNI and police from other regions, like Kalimantan, are being temporarily reassigned to Jakarta and other major cities to deal with the demonstrators. It's very likely there will be another major demonstration later today on the 1st.
I'll update you if I learn anything more.
Oh, I almost forgot. There was finally a response from Prabowo.
It was the most basic, template answer you could imagine—you could practically guess every word before he said it. The worst part? In one part I saw, when talking about the DPR members who were abroad and all of their antics before and on this week, was mild and called it a "mistake". But when he talked about the protests and the looting of the DPR houses, he used the word MAKAR.
For those who don't know, "makar" is an incredibly heavy word in Indonesian law. It's often translated as "treason," "sedition," or "rebellion." It's not a word for simple crime; it's a charge used for acts that aim to overthrow the government or undermine the state. Using it to describe the looting and the violent outburst instantly frames the entire protest movement as an existential threat to the nation, justifying an extreme and brutal response.
It's honestly so disheartening. Because when Prabowo started speaking about this (specifically about "makar"), he stopped reading from his prepared text. It was like he was speaking off-script. So, this really felt like he was representing or uttering what he truly thinks, or what he believes.
The impression was that he was threatening the people for daring to speak out and express their opinions. Even though there is so much information and "evidence" all over social media proving that the anarchic acts were committed by provocateurs, he seems to be closing his eyes to it. He's lumping everyone together simply because the violence happened during demonstrations. It seems his way of thinking is still stuck in '1998' era, where voicing an opinion or criticizing the government is equated with rebellion and treason.
Honestly, in my opinion and that of many others, what we need right now is de-escalation. The public needs a statement that is calming yet clearly addresses the solutions to their aspirations. Not threats like this.
This is especially concerning because just a day or two ago (on the 30th/31st), Prabowo instructed the Panglima TNI (Commander of the Indonesian National Army) and the Kapolri (Chief of the Indonesian National Police) to take action against "anarchic elements" during the demonstrations.