Editorial
From the introduction of barracks slang in corporate offices to lethal boot camps for civilian managers, Indonesia is quietly sliding back into a dangerous era of creeping militarization.
Prospective managers of the Red and White Cooperatives chant slogans during basic military training at the 1st Marine Infantry Brigade in Cilandak, South Jakarta, on June 25, 2026. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
From former and active military officers taking over government and state-owned enterprise posts, to prospective Red and White Cooperative managers being sent to barracks, the ghost of the New Order regime is starting to feel real again. Civil society groups call it "creeping militarization", but what is unfolding might be even worse than a simple political trajectory, we are watching a militaristic culture normalize itself right inside everyday civilian life.The most subtle, yet telling, sign of this shift is the language. Walk into a university, a corporate office or a civil service department, and you will notice phrases like “mohon izin” (begging permission) and “siap!” (ready/yes, sir!), becoming part of the daily vocabulary. People may adopt these words out of simple habit or to show respect. But sociologists warn that it actually bakes a rigid, unequal hierarchy right into public spaces, echoing the authoritarian years under Soeharto. It quietly reinforces the outdated idea that military discipline is inherently superior to civilian systems, the exact opposite of the civilian supremacy the 1998 Reform movement fought so hard to establish.
