A friend of mine is a doctor at a Jakarta hospital.
He is about to start work and is waiting for his 'rain coat' to dry before he goes into the crowded covid19 wards. The protective eyewear he is to wear is the type you buy in Bunnings for lawn mowing, they too are drying after being hand washed.
24 doctors have died in Indonesia in their last 4 days and government analysts warn that the peak could be could be in July with more than 100,000 dead over an archipelago of 70,000 island and 270,000 million people. Present official infections are around 2,500 with over 200 dead. I say official because personally I don't believe government figures. The government had 2 months to prepare but dithered and now medical staff have limited protective equipment and are dying as a result.
My friend's life is at risk because of this.
Indonesia is a myriad of cultures and languages galvanized by a weak political system riddled with corruption and a headstrong aggressive military.
The President has proved weak and indecisive in first denying any infections nationally even as little as 3 weeks ago and when this epidemic really takes hold the present complacency in the population will turn to terror. Law and order within the microcosms of Indonesian cultures could easily dissolve.
West Timor based military may see East Timor as an easy target again, West Irian could see ethnic papuans revolt against an oppressive existence, Balinese may see a chance to self govern, Muslim extremists all over the country may see the chance to establish Muslim states throughout Indonesia including the whole of Java, Ache could over run it's borders to expand it's religious state plus many other small ethnic enclaves seeing this as a time to size what they believe has been taken from then.
The chances of a military coupe are high on the list of potential unrest and such a move may start a grizzly civil war that would lead to unimaginable bloodshed.
Imagine a Yugoslavia on our doorstep.
Not only do we have the virus to deal with but a new lifestyle based business consolidation, permanent loss of full time employment, a lower standard of living and a declining economy we also have a regional geopolitical shift on out very front door step.
Watch Indonesia. It's stability is vital to our way of life. Indonesians will become confused and disoriented as their old life changes. But then won't we all.
