Indonesia's Military Training for Minimart Workers

Jauh, jauh, jauh.

This looks like a military drill,

but it's really a training program

for Indonesia's new state-run minimart, Orkoprasidesa Merah Putih.

The program is a passion project of President Prabowo Subianto,

a former special forces commander and army general.

More than 30,000 people have joined the 45-day-long training program.

But many have asked,

why hold a military bootcamp

to train workers to sell things like fertilizer,

produce, and cooking gas?

This is our main goal,

to build discipline,

build togetherness,

and to cultivate empathy as a potential manager.

membutuhkan kedisiplinan, karena kita akan menjadi seorang contoh,

seorang pedoman di unit kerja nanti.

Sesetengah pelatih mengatakan bahwa mereka telah menikmati pengalaman mereka.

Awalnya sudah dengar, wah ini ada kewajiban untuk pendidikan,

kayak katanya semi-militer, ternyata pas saya masuk saya menikmati.

Dari awal sampai sekarang sudah hari ke-9,

saya ya menikmati aja di sini,

banyak teman, banyak pelatih-pelatih.

Tetapi beberapa telah menimbulkan khawatiran mengenai

latihan militer yang keras di kamp.

Selama dua minggu pertama program ini, lima orang meninggal dari pelbagai alasan,

termasuk penyakit kardiasis,

kecemasan, tuberkulosi, dan pneumonia.

Program Minimart yang berharga 13 juta dolar AS,

berniat untuk membuka lebih dari 80 ribu kedai di seluruh Indonesia.

But there have been questions about the location of some minimarts

in mountainous areas or in towers overlooking cliffs.

Some shops reportedly even block village roads.

The Prabowo administration says the scheme will create jobs and

push the economy towards its target of 8% economic growth by 2029.

I believe this is the beginning of a big movement.

The money that has been absorbed from the villages to the cities

will be returned from the capital to the provinces and villages.

The economic power is now revolving in the districts, precincts and villages.

But the boot camp training also reflects the military's increasingly complex role.

Indonesian society.

The nation was run as a military dictatorship

for 32 years by authoritarian leader Suharto,

Prabowo's former father-in-law.

In the decades since Suharto's fall,

Indonesia has become one of Asia's most active democracies.

Yet under Prabowo,

the military is once again gaining power

in ways that raise concerns among some observers.

Read more about it on scmp.com