{
  "id": 16894080,
  "title": "'Eat the rich': Thousands protest graft, wildfires in Indonesia",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/eat-the-rich-thousands-protest-graft-wildfires-in-indonesia",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-28T11:45:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/world/region/2026/10/1565689/eat-rich-thousands-protest-graft-wildfires-indonesia"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Thousands of Indonesians took to the streets in Jakarta and other cities on Wednesday, protesting economic hardship, corruption, and the government's response to devastating wildfires. Many demonstrators adopted the three-finger salute from the dystopian franchise The Hunger Games and displayed signs with angry messages, including \"Hungry? Eat the Rich!\" and \"If we burn, you burn with us.\"\n\nPresident Prabowo Subianto, whose approval rating has hit record lows due to allegations of widespread government corruption and growing authoritarianism, was a frequent target of the protesters. One sign read, \"Hey Wok! Nobody paid us. We all hate you for free,\" while another declared, \"No Clean Air Under Dirty Government.\"\n\nSekar, a 37-year-old protester, expressed frustration over the impact of the wildfires and the government's handling of the situation. She stated, \"My heart is shattered by the plight of compatriots battling months of wildfires and haze while also contending with the effects of a weakening currency and higher prices.\" Sekar vowed to stand up to any police officers who mistreated the demonstrators.\n\nThe protest organization, known as SADAR (meaning \"aware\" in Bahasa Indonesia), called for the government to declare a national emergency to allocate more resources to combat the wildfires. Deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas reported that the blazes have destroyed over 1.9 million hectares of land in the past nine months. The toxic haze from the fires has sickened thousands and damaged Indonesia's relations with neighboring countries.\n\nSingapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan was set to meet with Prabowo in Jakarta, following Balakrishnan's assertion that the fires were caused by human action rather than being a natural phenomenon. Protest organizers accused the government of attempting to cover up the problem instead of addressing it. They criticized Prabowo's administration for prioritizing the sovereignty of the ruling class over the people, citing mismanagement of the economy, environmental exploitation, and erosion of the rule of law and democracy. Protests also took place in Bandung, Malang, Yogyakarta, and Makassar on Java island, and Makassar on Sulawesi island.",
  "summary": "JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesians protested in Jakarta and other cities Wednesday against economic hardship, graft and the government’s handling of devastating wildfires emitting a toxic haze that has sickened thousands.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}