Private vs. Public Sphere
The issue of the Regional Secretary's unregistered marriage has indeed circulated on social media. And the Indonesian Law Students Association has firmly stated that as long as there are no violations of official norms that impact the administration of government, the issue "must be treated proportionally." This is not my opinion. It's the opinion of a legal organization.
The question is, what does a bureaucrat's private life have to do with the use of disaster funds? The honest answer is: nothing. Period. Done. Case closed.
But this is precisely where the true motive is revealed. When a student movement is willing to mix neighborhood gossip with public policy issues, there are two possibilities.
First, they are unable to distinguish between the private and public spheres, which means they lack the intellectual qualifications to discuss policy. Second, they know the difference but deliberately mix them, which means there is another agenda at play.
Both possibilities are equally embarrassing.
Who truly benefits when personal issues are juxtaposed with budgetary issues? Who is behind the plot that combines flood news clippings with wedding gossip? GAMPATA and its coordinators owe the Acehnese public an answer, not regarding the Regional Secretary, but regarding their own integrity.
We are certainly not allergic to criticism. As former activists who once stood on the same streets, we know full well that criticism is the lifeblood of democracy. Without criticism, power decays. That is an axiom that cannot be disputed.
But good criticism has three requirements: testable reasoning, verifiable data, and the right channels. It should not be news clippings submitted to the wrong unit. It should not be demands that conflict with applicable laws. And it should definitely not be personal gossip inserted among issues concerning the people's livelihoods after the disaster.
When these three requirements are not met, what remains is not a movement, but noise. And noise, no matter how loud, never changes anything.
Go ahead and protest. It's a constitutional right. But if you want to be respected as an intellectual movement, cultivate reason before raising your voices.[]
