IO – Looking back to the series of events in 2018, Independent Observer presents some of the most prominent events in the picture series that illustrate the joy and sorrow, success and failure of the journey of the nation to achieve a better future.
Starting at the beginning of the year, it is the Chinese New Year celebration that seizes the attention of the public. The series of the celebrations to celebrate grace in the year of ‘Dog Land’ has been celebrated long before the peak of the celebration on February 16-18 2018
The news in Indonesia is then dominated by the infrastructure development carried out by the government. Since the beginning of his administration, Jokowi has been building much infrastructure that not only provides benefits but also causes problems, among others, the large number of casualties from workers in these infrastructure projects.
The attention of the community was then directed towards the evictions carried out by the former DKI Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaya Purnama. LBH Jakarta said there were 25,533 victims of eviction during Ahok’s position as Governor. Whereas the eviction locations are spread in 12 different locations in DKI Jakarta.
The focus of the community was then directed at the May 1, 2018 when labor show of force conducted throughout Indonesia. The photos of the action convoy of workers coloring the 2018 kaleidoscope.
In July, mass media coverage focused on the demonstration of thousands of Pertamina workers with their various demands from the refusal of Pertamina’s asset sales to the demand for the removal of the BUMN Minister, Rini Soemarno.
After that, the implementation of the 2018 Asian Games really captured mass media coverage: the opening of the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta and Palembang. Besides registering as the organizer for the second time, Indonesia also made phenomenal achievements. Indonesia managed to occupy the fourth position with the acquisition of a total of 98 medals consisting of 31 gold, 24 silver and 43 bronze. From all branches, the Silat branch managed to donate the most medals compared to other sports. Of the 16 numbers competed at the 2018 Asian Games, Indonesia won 14 gold medals and one bronze medal.
Amid the excitement of the 2018 Asian Games, sad news came from Lombok. Various earth tremors hit the islands of Lombok and Sumbawa which resulted in 564 deaths, with 1,584 injured, and 390,529 people displaced.
The sadness was still lingering when other sad news came. Palu, Donggala, and Sigi were hit by an earthquake with greater strength which resulted in a tsunami that claimed more than 2,010 people, with thousands more likely to be buried.
The celebration of democracy in Indonesia will soon take place in less than six months. But all the preparations, including the peaceful campaign carried out by the KPU, is our choice as an important event in September. The peaceful 2019 Election campaign and march on Monas was opened by the Chair of the KPU Arief Budiman by releasing balloons into the air. 2019 elections will be joined by 16 parties at the national level, and four parties at the regional level, namely in Aceh. Meanwhile, the 2019 Presidential Election is joined by two pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) -Ma’ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno.
As a closing phenomenal event in 2018, IO chose the ‘Reuni Akbar 212’ event at Monas which was held on December 2, 2018 and attended by millions of participants from all over Indonesia. The event which began with Tahajud prayer at 3:00 followed by Subuh (Fajr) prayers in congregation, dzikirkr and Istighotsah was phenomenal not only considered from the number of attendees who were estimated at more than ten million, but also it can also be seen from the discipline of participants to maintain cleanliness and order during the event.
There is a series of events in photos in the hope that they can become a mirror for the continuation of a better life in the future.
(Haris Winarto)
