Not a laughing matter

A fisherman’s dramatic entrance at the DPR taught our representatives a lesson: Step out of your ivory towers and listen to the people. 

Amber Cheng Yan Yu | Jakarta Post

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When a lone fisherman stormed the Parliamentary Complex today, the most pertinent question we must ask ourselves is not ‘how’, but ‘why’. After Nadim Penyet Supiah-to bin Ayam made his way into the building, he berated the House of Representatives with palpable frustration, which the present lawmakers found comical. 

However, they may not be laughing for long. 

In his tirade, Nadim highlighted the struggles faced by local fishing communities amidst the ongoing construction of the sea wall. In between the furious lines about 67-pound goldfish, there was the voice of a group that supports the Indonesian economy but is spurned time again by its leaders. 

According to Nadim, NCICD’s seawall has blocked off seawater, greatly lowering the yield of fish farms and forcing fishermen to paddle out further into the ocean just to get their regular catch. Coupled with the reduction in fish size, the pollution caused by the sea wall was cited as another factor behind the perilous decline in fishermen’s revenue. Families depend on fishermen to provide for them, and as their catch dwindles in quality and quantity, it will cause low-income households along the coast to suffer. 

Gesturing to the lawmakers in the room, Nadim exclaimed, “You will have no fish to eat, then you will die.” He’s right. This suffering will soon creep its way up to the top of the food chain, as a fish shortage would not only affect lower and middle classes, but also threaten the food security of Indonesia as a whole. 

To make a bad situation even worse, when lawmakers presented their solutions to the disgruntled fishermen, it only added fuel to the fire. 

The PDI-P’s plan to relocate local communities 9 kilometres west with subsidised housing and Golkar’s plan for upskilling were met with immediate rebuttal. 

Relocation would displace thousands of local communities from the places they have spent their entire lives, and it would be logistically impossible to move thousands across the coast. In the words of Susan Herawati in her letter to DPR-RI today, forced relocation of fishermen will be “ripping apart livelihoods”, “ripping apart the community,” and “ripping apart their souls”. 

Even with the incentive of housing and groceries subsidies, our representatives’ empty promises have come back to haunt them. Nadim outrightly refused the offer, stating how fishermen never end up receiving subsidies and reprimanding lawmakers for their rampant corruption that impedes the well-being of the less fortunate. The mention of upskilling only served to spit in the fisherman’s face even further, as that would be stripping a “proud fisherman” of the occupation he has spent “50 years” doing, robbing him of his ability to choose his livelihood. 

From here, it is clear that the absurdity of this incident lies in the detachment of politicians through their ignorance towards the well-being of vulnerable groups in their electorate. Groups that they treat as annoying problems that must be solved rather than people with livelihoods and communities that must be helped. 

While Nadim’s abrupt intrusion and Herawati's subsequent letter have steered the council into a better direction, solutions that increase local engagement and reduce inequality are gaining traction. 

Nasdem’s plan to develop mangroves in designated areas of the coast to handle flooding while educating locals on their maintenance has steadily increased in visibility. Meanwhile, Muhammad Khozin’s rainwater initiative to reduce low-income households’ heavy reliance on groundwater has been subtly incorporated into various other proposals. Both proposals are commendable steps in the right direction for uplifting the welfare of the impoverished in Jakarta and along the coast. 

As the DPR moves forward on these issues, it is imperative that our representatives continue considering the needs of the people on the ground. After all, that is what we elect them for.