I had lived in Jakarta, Indonesia until 1998. Indonesia is one of the most populous countries in the world. It was ruled by Suharto for more than 33 years. Corruption, collusion and nepotism were common practices in Indonesia. A majority of the people lived in poverty because of the practices. The gap between poor and rich was huge. People lived under tyranny were oppressed by high- ranking official. The military was a tool to fix most cases under Suharto dictatorship. Back then he was the only president in Indonesia who had been ruling the country for my life. Around 1997, Asia was hit by regional economic crisis. Indonesia experienced the hardest hit of the crisis. Indonesians - especially working people - viewed this crisis as an opportunity to overthrow Suharto's regime. Some people saw this as an opportunity to commit vandalism. The minorities, such as Chinese which consists of less than 5% of population, were always the scapegoats of every blame in Indonesia because they dominated the economy in Indonesia. In May 1998, a big riot occurred in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Mobs were everywhere, armed with daggers and sharp weapons, they marched down the street. Many civilians repeatedly called for protection from the police/ military; however, the chaos was out of hands. Riots in Jakarta caused many places in the city to be burned. Cars were flipped over, windows were broken, people were killed. Jakarta was in the state of emergency. This riot caused me to lose my job, to go to another country, and made me realize that I was being treated unfairly.
The building where I worked was burned by mobs as well. It caused me to lose my job. I had spent many years in school to earn my bachelors" degree and more years to get a good position in my job in a construction company. All of efforts that I had spent since I was a little kid were gone just in a blink of an eye. I could not really describe how I felt.