Why are more Indonesian university graduates jostling for menial jobs?

, , ,
Indonesia now has two familiar images of graduate hardship, each with its own distinctive colour: the graduate in a green ojol (online motorcycle-taxi) jacket, and the graduate in an orange PPSU vest. They are usually told as separate stories. But both point to the same condition: graduates working in jobs that do not require the qualifications they spent years acquiring.

Selected, not shared: what Indonesia's limited dual citizenship proposal reveals about who counts as diaspora

, ,
The proposal for limited dual citizenship also appears ironic. It seeks to persuade highly skilled Indonesians overseas to return, yet President Prabowo has repeatedly urged those who are dissatisfied with the government to ‘look for another country’. Such mixed signals help explain why many members of the diaspora remain reluctant to formalise their ties to a state that seems ambivalent about their belonging.

TALKING INDONESIA PODCASTSee all


Why are more Indonesian university graduates jostling for menial jobs?

, , ,
Indonesia now has two familiar images of graduate hardship, each with its own distinctive colour: the graduate in a green ojol (online motorcycle-taxi) jacket, and the graduate in an orange PPSU vest. They are usually told as separate stories. But both point to the same condition: graduates working in jobs that do not require the qualifications they spent years acquiring.

Selected, not shared: what Indonesia's limited dual citizenship proposal reveals about who counts as diaspora

, ,
The proposal for limited dual citizenship also appears ironic. It seeks to persuade highly skilled Indonesians overseas to return, yet President Prabowo has repeatedly urged those who are dissatisfied with the government to ‘look for another country’. Such mixed signals help explain why many members of the diaspora remain reluctant to formalise their ties to a state that seems ambivalent about their belonging.

Talking Indonesia: independent publishing and the making of alternative publics

, ,
In this week's episode, Dr Clara Siagian speaks with Syarafina Vidyadhana, co-founder and commissioning editor of Cahyati Press, an independent publishing practice based in Bali.

All eyes on politicians: luxury brands and public scrutiny

, ,
This is about more than just luxury handbags, designer shoes, or expensive watches. It is about visibility and power in the digital age. Social media has fundamentally transformed the relationship between citizens and political elites by enabling ordinary people to scrutinise, archive, and interpret the everyday lives of those in authority.

Prabowo should not be paying for diplomacy (but he should stop travelling so much)

,
There is something profoundly unsettling about the suggestion that Indonesia's president might personally pay for his official overseas travel. Not because it reflects generosity, but because it reflects institutional failure.

Military-cleric alliance may fuel new anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Indonesia

, , , ,
Whatever political games are at play on this issue, efforts to frame LGBTQ people as a non-military threat and efforts to criminalise sexuality will only open more avenues for persecution, mostly for the underprivileged. It will likely be used as a pretext for security forces to further encroach on people’s privacy. In this scenario, everyone, not just the LGBTQ community, is at risk.

Talking Indonesia: experiencing Indonesia

,
In this episode, Dr Jacqui Baker speaks to Liam Prince, Director of the ACICIS program based at the University of Western Australia, about the future of Australia’s Asia and Indonesia capabilities.

Police vs prosecutors? Indonesia’s latest corruption scandal exposes elite fracturing under Prabowo

, , ,
The corruption case implicating top prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah reflects not only the institutional rivalry between the police and the prosecutors. It also exposes the broader conflicts involving major oligarchic factions in the country.

Prabowo’s managed coercion is reshaping Indonesia’s political-economic order

, , ,
Prabowo’s regime has demonstrated that the state retains a latent, potent capacity to dictate the terms of economic accumulation. But this does not imply the erasure of Indonesia’s elite networks, but rather a structural rearticulation of their relationship with the state. While the oligarchs are currently forced to adapt to these centralising arrangements, their compliance should not be mistaken for permanent submission.

Why are more Indonesian university graduates jostling for menial jobs?

, , ,
Indonesia now has two familiar images of graduate hardship, each with its own distinctive colour: the graduate in a green ojol (online motorcycle-taxi) jacket, and the graduate in an orange PPSU vest. They are usually told as separate stories. But both point to the same condition: graduates working in jobs that do not require the qualifications they spent years acquiring.

Selected, not shared: what Indonesia's limited dual citizenship proposal reveals about who counts as diaspora

, ,
The proposal for limited dual citizenship also appears ironic. It seeks to persuade highly skilled Indonesians overseas to return, yet President Prabowo has repeatedly urged those who are dissatisfied with the government to ‘look for another country’. Such mixed signals help explain why many members of the diaspora remain reluctant to formalise their ties to a state that seems ambivalent about their belonging.

Talking Indonesia: independent publishing and the making of alternative publics

, ,
In this week's episode, Dr Clara Siagian speaks with Syarafina Vidyadhana, co-founder and commissioning editor of Cahyati Press, an independent publishing practice based in Bali.

All eyes on politicians: luxury brands and public scrutiny

, ,
This is about more than just luxury handbags, designer shoes, or expensive watches. It is about visibility and power in the digital age. Social media has fundamentally transformed the relationship between citizens and political elites by enabling ordinary people to scrutinise, archive, and interpret the everyday lives of those in authority.

Prabowo should not be paying for diplomacy (but he should stop travelling so much)

,
There is something profoundly unsettling about the suggestion that Indonesia's president might personally pay for his official overseas travel. Not because it reflects generosity, but because it reflects institutional failure.

Military-cleric alliance may fuel new anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Indonesia

, , , ,
Whatever political games are at play on this issue, efforts to frame LGBTQ people as a non-military threat and efforts to criminalise sexuality will only open more avenues for persecution, mostly for the underprivileged. It will likely be used as a pretext for security forces to further encroach on people’s privacy. In this scenario, everyone, not just the LGBTQ community, is at risk.

Talking Indonesia: experiencing Indonesia

,
In this episode, Dr Jacqui Baker speaks to Liam Prince, Director of the ACICIS program based at the University of Western Australia, about the future of Australia’s Asia and Indonesia capabilities.

Police vs prosecutors? Indonesia’s latest corruption scandal exposes elite fracturing under Prabowo

, , ,
The corruption case implicating top prosecutor Febrie Adriansyah reflects not only the institutional rivalry between the police and the prosecutors. It also exposes the broader conflicts involving major oligarchic factions in the country.

Prabowo’s managed coercion is reshaping Indonesia’s political-economic order

, , ,
Prabowo’s regime has demonstrated that the state retains a latent, potent capacity to dictate the terms of economic accumulation. But this does not imply the erasure of Indonesia’s elite networks, but rather a structural rearticulation of their relationship with the state. While the oligarchs are currently forced to adapt to these centralising arrangements, their compliance should not be mistaken for permanent submission.
NEWS & EVENTS

TALKING INDONESIA PODCASTSee all


EDITOR’S PICKSSee all

Prabowo’s foreign stooge myth: Are Indonesians buying it?

26 May 2026/by Djayadi Hanan, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/djayadi/, Yoes C Kenawas, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/yoes/

Indonesia’s social media ban for under-16s deprives many children of their only public space

19 May 2026/by Pradipa P. Rasidi, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/adip/

The new KUHAP: more kinds of evidence, fewer limits (Part 1 of 2)

12 May 2026/by Simon Butt, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/simon-butt/

Loyalty over expertise: The patronage problem at the heart of Prabowo’s foreign policy

21 April 2026/by Ahmad Syarif Syechbubakr, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/syarif/

Indonesia at Melbourne is supported by:

Melbourne Law School Asia Institute Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society Indonesia Forum Faculty of Arts Indonesia Democracy Hallmark Research Initiative

Indonesia at Melbourne

Room 726, Level 7, 185 Pelham St,
The University of Melbourne
Parkville 3010 VIC Australia

Phone: +61 3 83448581

Email:  indo-at-melb@unimelb.edu.au

Date created: 1 July 2015

Editor: Ary Hermawan

Editorial board: 
Professor Tim Lindsey
Dr Tim Mann
Aron Corbett

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated.

Phone:13 MELB (13 6352) | International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
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