Tracing the May 1998 Riots: When the Dollar Soared in Tandem with Harvest Failures

The May 1998 riots, which became the turning point from the New Order to the Reformasi era, did not occur in isolation. There were several events that ignited the outbreak of the May 1998 riots. According to kompaspedia.kompas.id, this series of riots was triggered by economic growth in 1997, initially targeted at 7.1%, which failed to materialise. That year, Indonesia’s economy only grew by 4.7%, serving as an alarm for the collapse of the national economy’s foundations, which had previously appeared stable. Prices of staple needs such as rice, chillies, and onions surged dramatically. This directly forced the public to dig deeper into their pockets. The crisis began to be felt. Kompas archive notes that since the 27 July 1996 riots or the Kudatuli incident, protest actions continued. There were the Situbondo riots on 10 October 1996, Tasikmalaya riots on 26 December 1996, and Sanggau Ledo riots on 3 January 1997. Entering 1998, the economic condition plummeted. Growth was negative at 13.1%, inflation ran rampant, breaking the all-time high record of 11.05% in 1997. In early 1998, inflation had already reached 77.6%, rendering money meaningless. The dollar raged, touching Rp17,000 per US dollar in January 1998. “Amid the economic chaos, public trust in the authoritarian New Order government also collapsed,” wrote Kompas Research and Development. President Suharto, who had led for 32 years, was seen as the symbol of the flourishing practices of corruption, collusion, and nepotism (KKN). The desire for political change grew stronger. The public’s demands were summarised in the six reform agenda after Suharto stepped down. “Promoting the broadest possible regional autonomy, upholding the supremacy of law, and creating a government free from KKN,” wrote Kompas Research and Development.