BBS KJS Opinion: Inequality in Indonesia (by BSP Scholars)

In the spirit of providing a platform for students to voice their ideas and showcase their writing skills, BBS KJS presents to you Opinion.

By : Jacelyn Tirtajaya JC2M

We are living in an age of surging income inequality, particularly between those at the very top and everyone else. This shift is the most striking in Indonesia, but it’s a global phenomenon. The wealth gap and income inequality in Indonesia is ranked 6th in the world and is growing faster than its neighboring countries.

There are a lot of differences between the poor and the rich in Indonesia. Even the people just below the top have less good health than the people at the top. So income means something very important in our society. Within our societies, we’re looking at relative income, social position or social status where we are in relation to each other and the size of the gaps between us. As soon as we understand we immediately wonder. What happens if the gap widens or narrows, the income differences get bigger or smaller?

In Indonesia, 9.7% of the entire population is living in poverty, that’s 26.4 million Indonesians. But what’s even more striking is what’s happening at the very top of the income distribution. The richest 10% owns 3/4ths of the country’s wealth.

So we’re living in the age of surging income inequality, especially at the top. So what’s driving it?

One set of causes is political: lower taxes, deregulation, particularly of financial services, privatization, weaker legal protections for trade unions, all of these have contributed to more and more income going to the top.

Not only that, globalization and the technology revolution are also changing our lives and transforming the global economy, are also powering the rise of the super- rich.

Note:

* The opinions expressed here are solely exclusive of the author(s) and due care has been exercised to avoid any form of plagiarism as much as possible.

* If you have an original write-up that you would like to share, why not be part of BBS Opinion? Send us your .docx file via email to kjs.connect@binabangsaschool.com (and do not forget photos!)

* Your writing must be engaging, sensitive, informative, and roughly 200 words or more.