Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Jun 18
Indonesian Users Launch #SellSingapore as Billions Exit Markets and Fiscal Fears Stoke Backlash
Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Jun 18

Indonesian Users Launch #SellSingapore as Billions Exit Markets and Fiscal Fears Stoke Backlash

3 articles · Updated · South China Morning Post · Jun 18

Summary

  • #SellSingapore spread on Indonesian social media after a market sell-off fueled claims that Singapore was benefiting from negative sentiment toward Indonesian assets.
  • "Sell Indonesia" had already become shorthand among commentators and online users for cutting exposure to the country as economists warned over fiscal concerns and investors pulled billions of dollars out.
  • Singapore became the target of a cross-border digital backlash, with Indonesian users casting the city-state as a winner from capital flight and worsening sentiment.
  • Jansen Sitindaon, deputy secretary general of Indonesia's Democratic Party, amplified the reaction by describing the hashtag campaign as a nationalist response by Indonesian netizens.

Insights

As hashtags fly, can Indonesia's creative economy boom offset its aggressive resource nationalism?
Is Indonesia's nationalist agenda a path to sovereignty or a gamble that alienates global investors?