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Arab News
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Indonesia cracks down on pirate protest flag
JAKARTA: Indonesia is cracking down on a viral pirate flag that is spreading as a symbol of political protest ahead of independence day. The Jolly Roger skull and bones with a straw hat – from Japanese anime series 'One Piece' – has been fluttering from a rising number of trucks, cars and homes. Officials warn the 'provocation' – seen by many as a protest against President Prabowo Subianto's policies – should not fly alongside the country's red-and-white flag. The pirate banner was taken up by disgruntled truck drivers earlier this summer, but has recently snowballed into an online and real-life movement. 'I personally raised the One Piece flag because the red and white flag is too sacred to be raised in this corrupt country,' Khariq Anhar, a 24-year-old university student in Sumatra's Riau province, said. 'I believe freedom of speech in Indonesia exists, but it is very limited. Voicing your opinion is getting more dangerous.' Government officials say the flag's use is an attempt to divide the nation. They warn it may be banned from flying next to Indonesia's colors, or being raised on August 17 – the 80th independence anniversary after Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. 'It is imperative we refrain from creating provocation with symbols that are not relevant to this country's struggle,' chief security minister Budi Gunawan said in a statement last week. Ministers have cited a law that prohibits flying a symbol higher than the national flag as the basis for any punishment. Under that law, intent to desecrate, insult or degrade the flag carries a maximum prison sentence of five years or a fine of nearly $31,000. State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi on Tuesday said Prabowo had no issue with the 'expression of creativity,' but the two flags 'should not be placed side by side in a way that invites comparison,' local media reported. A presidency spokesman did not respond to an AFP question about its position on the pirate flag, which was put two days earlier. Experts say unhappy Indonesians are using the flag as a way to express anti-government feeling indirectly, with some of Prabowo's economic and defense policies causing concern about democratic backsliding. 'Symbols like the pirate flag let people channel frustration without spelling it out,' said Dedi Dinarto, lead Indonesia analyst at advisory firm Global Counsel. 'It reflects a public sentiment that parts of the country have been 'hijacked'.' Others, like food seller Andri Saputra, who has flown the pirate ensign below an Indonesian flag at his home for a week, say they want to be able to decide what symbols they display. 'I want to be free to express my opinion and express myself,' the 38-year-old said in Boyolali regency in Central Java. 'This is just a cartoon flag from Japan.' Online culture has been a popular channel for Indonesian dissatisfaction against perceived government corruption and nepotism. Japanese anime is popular in Indonesia, and in the best-selling 'One Piece' manga series created in 1997, the flag represents opposition to an authoritarian world government. In February, protests known as 'Dark Indonesia' began against Prabowo's widespread budget cuts, sparked by a logo posted on social media showing a black Indonesian mythical Garuda bird alongside the words 'Emergency Warning'. Other rallies in 2016 and 2019 were also sparked online, and Dedi says the government may be worried that 'this follows the same digital playbook.' There is also a generational divide, with older locals viewing the Indonesian flag as hard-won after centuries of colonial rule, while younger Indonesians see the new movement as an expression of disappointment. 'They just want Indonesia to get better, but... they can only express it through the 'One Piece' flag,' said Ismail Fahmi, founder of Indonesian social media monitor Drone Emprit. Police in Banten Province neighboring capital Jakarta and West Java Province, Indonesia's most populous, have threatened action if the flag is flown next to the nation's colors. One printing business owner in Central Java said on condition of anonymity that his facility was raided by plain-clothes police on Wednesday evening to halt its production of the pirate emblem. Rights groups have called the response excessive and say Indonesians are allowed to wave the flag by law. 'Raising the 'One Piece' flag as a critic is a part of the freedom of speech and it is guaranteed by the constitution,' said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid. Despite the government's threats, some young Indonesians are still willing to risk walking the plank of protest. 'Last night my friend and I went around the town while raising a One Piece flag,' said Khariq on Wednesday. 'If the government has no fear of repressing its own people, we shouldn't be scared to fight bad policies.'
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indonesia cracks down on pirate protest flag
Indonesia is cracking down on a viral pirate flag that is spreading as a symbol of political protest ahead of independence day. The Jolly Roger skull and bones with a straw hat -- from Japanese anime series "One Piece" -- has been fluttering from a rising number of trucks, cars and homes. Officials warn the "provocation" -- seen by many as a protest against President Prabowo Subianto's policies -- should not fly alongside the country's red-and-white flag. The pirate banner was taken up by disgruntled truck drivers earlier this summer, but has recently snowballed into an online and real-life movement. "I personally raised the One Piece flag because the red and white flag is too sacred to be raised in this corrupt country," Khariq Anhar, a 24-year-old university student in Sumatra's Riau province, told AFP. "I believe freedom of speech in Indonesia exists, but it is very limited. Voicing your opinion is getting more dangerous." Government officials say the flag's use is an attempt to divide the nation. They warn it may be banned from flying next to Indonesia's colours, or being raised on August 17 -- the 80th independence anniversary after Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. "It is imperative we refrain from creating provocation with symbols that are not relevant to this country's struggle," chief security minister Budi Gunawan said in a statement last week. Ministers have cited a law that prohibits flying a symbol higher than the national flag as the basis for any punishment. Under that law, intent to desecrate, insult or degrade the flag carries a maximum prison sentence of five years or a fine of nearly $31,000. State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi on Tuesday said Prabowo had no issue with the "expression of creativity", but the two flags "should not be placed side by side in a way that invites comparison", local media reported. - 'Just a cartoon' - A presidency spokesman did not respond to an AFP question about its position on the pirate flag, which was put two days earlier. Experts say unhappy Indonesians are using the flag as a way to express anti-government feeling indirectly, with some of Prabowo's economic and defence policies causing concern about democratic backsliding. "Symbols like the pirate flag let people channel frustration without spelling it out," said Dedi Dinarto, lead Indonesia analyst at advisory firm Global Counsel. "It reflects a public sentiment that parts of the country have been 'hijacked'." Others, like food seller Andri Saputra, who has flown the pirate ensign below an Indonesian flag at his home for a week, say they want to be able to decide what symbols they display. "I want to be free to express my opinion and express myself," the 38-year-old said in Boyolali regency in Central Java. "This is just a cartoon flag from Japan." Online culture has been a popular channel for Indonesian dissatisfaction against perceived government corruption and nepotism. Japanese anime is popular in Indonesia, and in the best-selling 'One Piece' manga series created in 1997, the flag represents opposition to an authoritarian world government. In February, protests known as 'Dark Indonesia' began against Prabowo's widespread budget cuts, sparked by a logo posted on social media showing a black Indonesian mythical Garuda bird alongside the words 'Emergency Warning'. Other rallies in 2016 and 2019 were also sparked online, and Dedi says the government may be worried that "this follows the same digital playbook". There is also a generational divide, with older locals viewing the Indonesian flag as hard-won after centuries of colonial rule, while younger Indonesians see the new movement as an expression of disappointment. - Police raid - "They just want Indonesia to get better, but... they can only express it through the 'One Piece' flag," said Ismail Fahmi, founder of Indonesian social media monitor Drone Emprit. Police in Banten Province neighbouring capital Jakarta and West Java Province, Indonesia's most populous, have threatened action if the flag is flown next to the nation's colours. One printing business owner in Central Java told AFP on condition of anonymity that his facility was raided by plain-clothes police on Wednesday evening to halt its production of the pirate emblem. Rights groups have called the response excessive and say Indonesians are allowed to wave the flag by law. "Raising the 'One Piece' flag as a critic is a part of the freedom of speech and it is guaranteed by the constitution," said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid. Despite the government's threats, some young Indonesians are still willing to risk walking the plank of protest. "Last night my friend and I went around the town while raising a One Piece flag," said Khariq on Wednesday. "If the government has no fear of repressing its own people, we shouldn't be scared to fight bad policies." dsa-jfx/djw
Al Jazeera
04-07-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
When will Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' take effect? Here's what comes next
On July 3, the United States House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's signature tax cut and spending package, which he has called the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'. The bill combines tax reductions, spending hikes on defence and border security, and cuts to social safety nets. Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned that the bill 'hurts everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks'. Trump's erstwhile ally, billionaire Elon Musk, publicly opposed the bill, arguing it would bloat expenditure and the country's already unmatched debt. Trump is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday, July 4 – the US's independence day – at 4pm ET. Here's what's next – and whom the bill will affect: How have taxes been lowered? The main goal of the bill was to extend Trump's first-term tax cuts. In 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered taxes and increased the standard deduction for all taxpayers, primarily benefitting higher-income earners. More than a third of the total cuts went to households with an income of $460,000 or more. The top 1 percent (roughly 2.4 million people) received average tax cuts of about $61,090 by 2025 – higher than any other income group. By contrast, the middle 60 percent of earners (78 million people) saw cuts in the range of $380 to $1,800. Those tax breaks were set to expire this year, but the new bill has made them permanent. It also adds some more cuts Trump promised during his latest campaign. For instance, there is a change to the US tax code called the State and Local Taxes deduction. This will let taxpayers deduct certain local taxes (like property taxes) from their federal tax return. Currently, people can only deduct up to $10,000 of these taxes. The new bill would raise that cap from $10,000 to $40,000 for five years. Taxpayers will also be allowed to deduct income earned from tips and overtime, until 2028, as well as interest paid on loans for buying cars made in the US from this year until 2028. Elsewhere, the estate tax exemption will rise to $15m for individuals and $30m for married couples. In all, the legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. How big are social welfare cuts? To help offset the cost of the tax cuts, Republicans plan to scale back Medicaid and food assistance programmes for low-income families. Their stated goal was to focus these programmes on certain groups – primarily pregnant women, people with disabilities and children – while also reducing what they deem to be waste, including by limiting access to immigrants. Currently, more than 71 million people depend on Medicaid, the government health insurance program. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would leave an additional 17 million Americans without health cover in the next decade. While Medicaid helps Americans suffering from poor health, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps poor people afford groceries. About 40 million Americans currently receive benefits through SNAP, also known as food stamps. The CBO calculates that 4.7 million SNAP participants will lose out over the 2025-2034 period, due to program reductions. Changes to Medicaid and SNAP could become permanent provisions, with no sunset clauses attached to them. A recent White House memo pointed to more than $1 trillion in welfare cuts from the new bill – the largest spending reductions to the US safety net in modern history. Will there be new money for national security? The bill sets aside about $350bn, to be spread out over several years, for Trump's border and national security plans. This includes: $46bn for the US-Mexico border wall $45bn to fund 100,000 beds in migrant detention centres Billions more to hire an extra 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents by 2029, as part of Trump's plan to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in US history. Will clean energy be affected? Republicans have rolled back tax incentives that support clean energy projects powered by renewables like solar and wind, instead giving tax breaks to coal and oil companies. These 'green' tax breaks were a part of former President Joe Biden's landmark Inflation Reduction Act, which aimed to tackle climate change and reduce healthcare costs. A tax break for people who buy new or used electric vehicles will expire on September 30 this year, instead of at the end of 2032 under current law. How will the bill affect the US debt profile? The legislation would raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, from $36.2 trillion currently (which amounts to 122 percent of gross domestic product or GDP), going beyond the $4 trillion outlined in the version passed by the House in May. Washington cannot borrow more than its stated debt ceiling. But since 1960, Congress has raised, suspended or changed the terms of the debt ceiling 78 times, facilitating more leverage and undermining the US's long-term fiscal stability. In his first term, Trump oversaw a roughly $8 trillion increase in the federal debt, which surged due to 2017 tax cuts and emergency spending, approved by Congress, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Debt as a share of GDP was already higher last year than it was anytime outside of World War II, the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic. Deficit concerns contributed to Moody's downgrading of the US credit score in May. For its part, the White House claims the new tax bill will reduce projected deficits by more than $1.4 trillion over the next decade, in part by spurring additional growth. But economists on both sides of the aisle have strongly disputed that. Indeed, according to the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, interest payments on national debt will rise to $2 trillion per year by 2034 owing to the legislation, crowding out spending on other goods and services. How did the House of Representatives vote on the bill? The lower house of the US Congress voted by a margin of 218 to 214 in favour of the bill on Thursday. All 212 Democratic members of the House opposed the bill. They were joined by Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who broke from the Republican majority. On July 1, the Senate narrowly passed the bill by a 51–50 vote, with the deciding vote cast by Vice President JD Vance. Who will benefit the most? According to Yale University's Budget Lab, wealthier taxpayers are likely to gain more from this bill than lower-income Americans. They estimate that people in the lowest income bracket will see their incomes drop by 2.5 percent, mainly because of cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, while the highest earners will see their incomes rise by 2.2 percent.
Free Malaysia Today
04-07-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump to sign ‘big, beautiful' bill on US independence day
US President Donald Trump announced a signing ceremony at the White House at 4pm today. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump will sign his flagship tax and spending bill today in a pomp-laden independence day ceremony featuring fireworks and a flypast by the type of stealth bomber that bombed Iran. Trump pushed Republican lawmakers to get his unpopular 'One Big Beautiful Bill' through a reluctant congress in time for him to sign it into law on the US national holiday – and they did so with a day to spare yesterday. Ever the showman, Trump will now meld a victory lap over the bill – which cements his radical second term agenda – with a grand party at the White House marking 249 years of independence from Britain. Trump announced that he would have a signing ceremony at the White House at 4pm today, and that the pilots who carried out the bombing on Iran were among those who had been invited. 'We have the hottest country anywhere in the world today,' the jubilant president told supporters at a rally in Iowa yesterday where he boasted of a 'phenomenal' victory in passing the bill. 'The age of America is upon us. This is a golden age.' The bill is the latest in a series of big political wins at home and abroad for Trump, and underlines the 79-year-old's dominance over both the Republican Party and US politics at large, for now. But the tycoon and former reality TV star has glossed over deep concerns from his own party and voters that it will balloon the national debt, and gut health and welfare support. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday that the ceremony would be 'on July 4, just as the president always said and hoped it would be'. First Lady Melania Trump was also set to attend the independence day event. The president's wife had told reporters yesterday that a B-2 bomber, the type of aircraft that bombed Iran's nuclear facilities on June 22, and fighter jets would carry out a flypast for the July 4 event. And Trump told the rally-goers in Iowa that the pilots and others who worked on the mission would join him for the festivities. 'They're going to be in Washington tomorrow, at the White House, we're going to be celebrating,' he said. Deep misgivings Trump forced through the bill despite deep misgivings in the Republican Party – and the vocal opposition of his billionaire former ally, Elon Musk. It squeezed past a final vote in the House of Representatives 218-214 after Republican Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night to corral the final group of dissenters. The sprawling mega-bill honours many of Trump's campaign promises: boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing US$4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief. The legislation is the latest in a series of big wins for Trump, including a Supreme Court ruling last week that curbed lone federal judges from blocking his policies, and the US air strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. But it is expected to pile an extra US$3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit. At the same time it will shrink the federal food assistance programme and force through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance scheme for low-income Americans since its 1960s launch. Up to 17 million people could lose their insurance coverage under the bill, according to some estimates. Scores of rural hospitals are expected to close as a result. Democrats hope public opposition to the bill will help them flip the House in the 2026 midterm election, pointing to data showing that it represents a huge redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.
