Instead of indirectly insulting Yemen, Prabowo should be building relations with it

At a high-profile industrial groundbreaking event in Central Java, President Prabowo Subianto responded sharply to critics who describe Indonesia as being in decline. Rejecting the phrase “Indonesia is dark,” he declared that such critics have “blurred vision,” insisted the country is “bright,” and then went further: if they are unhappy, they should simply leave—adding, pointedly, that they could “run away to Yemen.”  It was a moment meant to project confidence. Instead, it exposed a troubling lapse in judgment—one that reaches far beyond Indonesia’s domestic debate and directly into its relationship with the wider world. Let’s be clear: this was not just an attack on critics. It was an insult to Yemen. By invoking Yemen as a destination for those who […]