Wellington human rights lawyer Claire Achmad, who has Indonesian heritage and has been involved in organising Indonesia-New Zealand dialogues, sheds light on the top four issues people in the country care about.
1. Corruption
“Indonesians are really engaged with the key issues that are facing them. For example, corruption is a big issue that does concern Indonesians – and that's at all levels of society, both from the day-to-day right up to potential corruption amongst local and national elections.”
2. Natural disasters
“Also, natural disasters are a big issue for Indonesians. For example, Indonesia is located on the Ring of Fire. Earthquakes are big problem for the country, as is the case in New Zealand, but also issues like flooding.”
3. Social issues
“At the social and civic level, Indonesians are concerned with issues such as unemployment, human development and human rights issues.”
4. Traffic
“On a day-to-day level, especially in the urbanised centres of Indonesia, macet – traffic jams – are a really big problem for Indonesians. It takes a long time to get anywhere in the urban centres like Jakarta.”
– Asia Media Centre
