6th August 2005

Some Effects of Globalisation in Indonesia

During Globalisation tutorial yesterday, Sham showed us a special documentary done by John Pilger, the famous photographer, on the effects of globalisation in Indonesia. The documentary was entitled "The New Rulers of the World" if memory serves me right. It talks about how the Indonesians were underpaid in factories belonging to rich and branded companies such as Gap and Nike. There was some secret filming shown in the documentary which was taken by Pilger when he visited those factories posing as fabric buyers and some snippets of interview with some of the employees of the factories. What was revealed was a fact many of us had long known about but momentarily refuse to acknowledge because it did not happened in our country. When the truth was bared to me through the documentary, I realised that I've been a hypocrite for quite some time now.

Before leaving high school, I was not really a brand conscious person. I don't mind not having branded things to use as long as it's fashionable enough to be worn out of the house. I've only started to be aware of all things branded after I left high school. Branded clothings were still not important to me although there were times that I wished I would be able to afford it so out of peer pressure. When I started the Murdoch programme, I begun to shun branded clothings because of what I've learned through my classes about some effects of globalisation. "The rich are becoming richer, the poor are becoming poorer". I'm sure that is a statement many have heard before but are not truly aware that it is referring to the effects of globalisation.

The statement is stark true in Indonesia. Factory workers or rather, menial and blue collar workers had to work long hours on wages which are less than nearly USD$1 a day. And the sad part about it, they had to bear with it and take it as their fate instead of doing anything to rebel for when they rebel, they will lose their jobs. Losing their jobs is equivalent to losing their only rice bowl to feed their families and provide them with medication to the sick. Nearly all the factory employees had no idea that the products they produce for these rich companies are actually gaining lots of profits in other countries when they were only paid a few pennies for each product they produced. And then, there were all those controversy about Suharto and how his cronies managed to get financial help from the IMF and the World Bank when all the while, most of the money coming in to supposedly help the Indonesians to upgrade their standard of living were only helping the Suhartos to get richer while the poor and uneducated remained so. Pilger interviewed some representatives about this issue but all of them were spinning stories to save their asses while protecting the centre or instutition that they are working for. What I've seen from the documentary only serves to sadden me and for a moment there, I felt helplessness washed over me and that was when I realised that I was being such a hypocrite.

I used to shun branded things knowing the truth behind the products that were produced and how much hardship those people producing such goods were facing. I used to tell myself that I would refuse to support such slave drivers, such rich people who only care for themselves while ignoring human rights. And here I am, getting brand conscious as the day passes by. It is something unavoidable when everybody around you talks about brand and buy branded stuff and I guess my own personal opinion about shunning such brand things are not strong enough. For if it is strong enough, I wouldn't be influence into looking, admiring or even buying such branded stuff. The documentary had helped me realised what a hypocrite I've became and from this moment on, I will strife to avoid anything branded as my own personal protest towards these so-called 'new rulers'.