A recent article released by an Australian media site
exemplified how the West's uneducated perceive Indonesia; to them, the world's
fourth most populous country is nothing more than the tourist island of Bali.
The Australian, one of Australia's largest and most
renowned national newspapers, thought that the title "Indonesia's Covid
hell as Australians may have to wait years to return to Bali" would be
appropriate in this day and age.
Please don't get us wrong. We completely understand
the desire to appeal to your target demographic. However, portraying the
current COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia — the country's biggest outbreak to date
as a nuisance for Australian tourists may be one of the most callous things a journalist
can do.
The article as a whole attempt to provide an overview
of the current COVID situation in Indonesia, where images of overcrowded
hospitals and makeshift cemeteries, as well as reports of oxygen tanks running
out and people dying before receiving treatment, have been making national and
international headlines.
However, it appears that exercising full-fledged
empathy is a little difficult, given that the author had to address the topic
specifically for our Australian neighbors. “It might be years before
Australians can vacation in Indonesia since the island of Java is on the edge
of a pandemic-induced collapse,” according to one line in the article.
So, what precisely does this mean? Do Australians
simply not care about Indonesia beyond their Bali vacation plans, despite the
fact that we are a near neighbor? We are not surprised, considering that most
of the coverage about Indonesia in Australia is so concentrated on Bali that
people frequently forget that the island is a part of a country, not a country
in its own right.
It's even more distressing to see this title written
by such a well-known publication – we'd accept it grudgingly if it was produced
by a right-wing tabloid catering to the ignorant population. Not only is it
ethnocentric, but people are literally dying here. Who cares about your
postponed vacation plans?