Indonesia 'needs innovation', but one case makes young people reluctant

Young Indonesians fear for future after startup founder jailed Sat 11 Jul 2026 at 12:52pm Indonesia's booming technology and creative industries have inspired a new generation of young talent eager to help shape the country's future. But last week's 10-year prison sentence for tech entrepreneur Nadiem Makarim in a corruption case has left some questioning whether their efforts to create change will be supported or punished. Cintya Djayaputra, an Indonesian startup founder based in Spain, is still debating whether she wants to go home. "As the founder of a tech startup, I am deeply concerned by Nadiem's case," she told ABC. "We now need to think more carefully about the risk, how decisions or projects that are carried out with good intentions can end up having unintended consequences, especially in the long term." Makarim is the co-founder of Indonesia's first "unicorn" called Gojek, which began as a ride-hailing app and is now worth an estimated $US10 billion ($14.4 billion). Research by the University of Indonesia says it has contributed at least $US3 billion to the country's economy. It's this kind of impact that made the Harvard graduate a figure that young professionals looked up to. Despite his success in the tech industry, Makarim resigned from Gojek and became education minister under former president Joko Widodo. But late last year he was arrested over allegations of corruption related to the procurement of more than 1 million Google Chromebooks for schools while he was a minister. Google was a Gojek investor and prosecutors alleged Makarim favoured the tech giant by creating tender specifications that only suited the Chrome system. They say the process led to $US125 million in state losses. Makarim was found guilty and along with his 10-year jail sentence was ordered to pay more than 800 billion rupiah ($65 million), which was said to be the amount he personally gained from the deal. Makarim rejected the accusations, saying there was no personal enrichment and that Google's investment in Gojek's parent company was not connected to the procurement. Critics say the case was politically motivated, lacked evidence and set a dangerous precedent by criminalising controversial policy. 'Extremely rubbery' anti-corruption law Tim Lindsey, an Indonesian law expert and professor at the University of Melbourne, said the country's "extremely rubbery" anti-corruption law didn't require intention to defraud or corrupt intent to convict someone. "You don't have to have any personal gain or benefit from it all, and you can still be found guilty of corruption because what's required is quite simply just state loss," he said. "The problem is that state losses could be anything: it could be a cost blowout on a government project or not accepting the lowest tender for a government procurement, even if the tender was poor quality. "It shows the way the corruption law is deployed to catch what would normally be considered reasonable business risks." Makarim's case has become a hot topic for Indonesians around the world. "I've thought about moving back to Indonesia after living overseas for nine years, but Nadiem's case had made me thought twice about it," a social media user wrote. "Yesterday, I was unsure whether I should change my passport. But after seeing the news about Nadiem, I don't have to think twice anymore. I'll take the citizenship test," another posted. Ms Djayaputra said she wanted to work in "an environment that offers legal certainty, transparency, and a strong sense of security for those seeking to innovate". "When the system is unable to provide certainty, it is understandable that many talented Indonesians start looking overseas to build their careers," she said. 'Deeply disappointed and afraid' Asyifa Isvari, who is currently studying at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said she was still planning to return to Indonesia but had her concerns. "Everyone I've spoken to about this, not just young people, is deeply disappointed and afraid,"she said. "Many have said, 'If Nadiem, with his track record of building Gojek, still ended up facing legal charges and receiving a verdict like this, what chance do the rest of us have, when we're no-one?'" She said even though Indonesia "clearly needs innovation", the case had made a lot of people in her circle think about staying elsewhere. University of Queensland student Tito Tri Kadafi said Makarim's case was a reflection of "how subjective and selective" law enforcement could be in Indonesia. "I believe talented people will become more hesitant to make decisions after this, out of fear that they could become political targets," he said. "As an Indonesian citizen, I'm cautious about interacting and working with the government, because you never know whether you might be next." Mr Kadafi, a founder of literacy-building organisation Bastra ID, said Indonesians lacked an environment where young people could innovate safely and feel supported. "It feels naive that since childhood we have been taught to be moral and to love our country, while at the same time those who govern it repeatedly display irregularities and injustice," he said. Hoping people will return home Rizky Junior Ully, a Monash University student, wondered if a future contribution in government would end up "backfiring", just like what happened to Makarim. "The questions are no longer substantive ones, such as, 'Is this policy good for the public?' or 'Will it be beneficial?'" he said. "Instead, they become, 'Will my action upset people in power? Will it make influential figures feel threatened?'" Mr Ully, who was hoping to work in government after returning home, said these questions also came up in discussions with his Indonesian friends in Australia. However, he said Indonesia still needed expertise from people who had their education overseas. "I hope this [case] doesn't discourage people who want to contribute to Indonesia,"Mr Ully said. "Instead, I hope it motivates them even more to return and get involved, to say, 'We can do better than this.'" Negative image to potential investors The University of Melbourne's Professor Lindsey said he believed the treatment of Makarim would worsen the brain drain situation in Indonesia. "They are a pool of people who will, in the future, be appointed to senior positions in government, to business, who will take leadership roles in their country in the years ahead," he said. "And then you get a vicious cycle that can emerge, where if you can have a good-quality, high-skilled professional educated people who don't want to take risk in the government, then who does?" He said the lack of evidence in Makarim's case would also affect investment. "This [case] sends an extraordinarily negative image to potential investors about risk in Indonesia,"he said. Professor Lindsey said most Indonesians who pursued higher education overseas would still come back but might think they would have "a better prospect" outside. "I think there's an increasing anxiety about the politicisation of the bureaucracy and of business," he said. "And the growing authoritarianism in Indonesia means that it's no longer as attractive a prospect as it was in the past." Ms Djayaputra said it would be "deeply concerning" to see many talented Indonesians deciding to stay overseas. "Ultimately, it is the public who will suffer the consequences," she said. Indonesia's Attorney General's Office and Ministry of Law and Human Rights were contacted for comment.