Commemorating Radiohead's Legendary Project And MTV EXIT: Indonesia In The Frame Of Child Labor Exploitation

All I Need clip clip (Source: YouTube / Radiohead)

JAKARTA - Dian Novianti, Kamsa Nur Cholis, and Suryadi were arrested. The three of them were involved in cases of underage prostitution. Just employing children is a crime. Moreover, making them a source of money from the prostitution business. In Indonesia, this problem has been rolling for a long time. It is necessary to look back on the campaign project of the genius band, Radiohead with MTV in MTV EXIT. This is because Indonesia is in the spotlight in the campaign.

Kapolsek Koja Police Commissioner Cahyo said Dian, Kamsa and Suryadi were arrested at a boarding house in Pondok Impian, Simpang Lima Semper, Tugu Selatan, Koja, North Jakarta. From that arrest, the police secured seven children who were victims of crimes of underage prostitution. They were 15 to 17 years old on average.

"Most of the victims were from Cianjur. They were deliberately recruited and accommodated in one of the boarding houses where the boarding houses were provided by the perpetrators," said Cahyo, as written by Kompas.com, Saturday, June 27.

At the shelter, pimps sell each child through social media. They were threatened with Article 2 of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Crime of Trafficking in Persons in conjunction with Article 296 of the Criminal Code. "We use the article with a minimum threat of 3 years, a maximum of 15 years," said Cahyo.

In 2017, a case also opened sad eyes to the fate of children employed in this country. The fireworks factory owned by PT Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses caught fire on October 26. A number of minors were burned to death in the building where they worked.

Andri Hartanto, Operations Manager of PT Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses, who at that time the suspect spoke to Tirto.id about the children employed in his factory. He said he was forced to employ minors to accommodate the wishes of local residents so that the factory absorbs the labor of children who do not go to school.

Child labor was one of the charges against Andri at that time. Apart from Andri, the police named two other suspects, namely Indra Liono as the owner of the factory - who was also charged with child labor - and Subarna Ega, a welder. The fire at that time was known to have occurred due to negligence in the process of welding the roof truss on the lower part of the building.

"The female packing workers specifically were daily casual workers for the local residents, coordinated by Mr. Sutrisna (one of the victims) ... The factory initially planned to invest in the packing machine itself. But upon request to contribute to local residents to create jobs, we delayed the machine packing that we will import, "said Andri in the discussion.

Legendary campaign

"Come on, everyone. Come on, wake up. Wake up, wake up!"

A woman screamed as she swung her legs towards a group of sleeping children in a hallway. The scene on the screen is divided into two. Two stories going parallel were played. The left side shows the dark life of the children of the shoe factory workers which they call "the life of the children in the east". Meanwhile, the right side depicts the comfortable life that a boy can get in the western world.

Many believe the video depicts the dark conditions of children employed in Indonesia. Several years before the video, to be precise in 2002, Indonesia was in the world spotlight because of a child slavery case in a shoe factory in Bandung, West Java. A number of theories regarding that are also reinforced by audience comments in YouTube video uploads.

I'm the next act

Waiting in the wings

I'm an animal

Trapped in your hot car

I am all the days

That you choose to ignore

Thom Yorke's voice swirled, following minor rhythmic strings. Dark. Perfect. It was the first time that I, who was still in a high school chair, was faced with a reality about children being employed. Exploited.

Thom Yorke is a musician who has never kept his political views to himself. Following Radiohead's work is almost the same as tracing Thom Yorke's thoughts and ways of dealing with the world's problems.

In 2008, when MTV contacted him to take part in the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign, Thom Yorke was spontaneously enthusiastic. "It's great MTV brings this up. Usually this is something I can only talk about with people who are considered 'extreme leftists' or whatever. So it's great because we don't have to be on any side (in politics) to see the error in this issue, "said Thom Yorke, we quoted from MTV.com, Thursday, July 23.

This project is special. Radiohead and MTV collaborated with Oscar-winning cinematographer John Seale (The English Patient-1997). In the director's chair, Steve Rogers is the director. The project targets a major impact, namely the collective awareness of the world community about the dark reality of the fate of children who are forced to work. It is also hoped that this video will make many adult men and women aware that some of us may be undergoing a form of exploitation.

There is a reason why Radiohead chose the song All I Need from the album In Rainbows in this project. A reason which Seale and Rogers can translate very well. "That's the kind of picture I have in my head," said Thom Yorke.

"Sometimes when you walk down the High Street and you see (shoes) that are really cheap, you kind of think, 'Hmmm, how can they make that so cheap?' The moment of thought touched me that the music (All I Need) would suit this issue. I thought it would be great, "he added.

In Indonesia

In Indonesia, regulations regarding children employed are regulated in a number of regulations. Article 88 of Law Number 35 Year 2014 concerning Child Protection, for example, threatens to imprisonment for a maximum of ten years and / or a maximum fine of IDR 200 million for each person who employs children.

Others, Article 185 of Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower mandates a maximum prison sentence of four years and / or a maximum fine of IDR 400 million for business actors who employ minors. However, the Manpower Law provides room for employers to legalize the use of child labor over the age of 12.

First, employers must obtain written permission from parents. Second, employers and parents are required to sign an agreement. Then, children can only work a maximum of three hours per day. Work should only be done during the day. Finally, children's work must not interfere with education, health, physical, social, and mental.

Photo illustration (Aalok Atreya / Unsplash)

Facts on the field, Indonesian children are not yet free. Many of them are still employed. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2018 shows that the number of child workers in that year reached 981.9 thousand or 2.65 percent of the total children aged 5-17 years.

In general, this figure is decreasing, indeed. In 2017 data, BPS noted that more children were employed: 1.2 million children or 3.06 percent of the total children of the same age. This decline does not mean that Indonesia is successful in addressing the problem of child labor.

There are growth factors that have implications for reducing the number of child laborers in the 5-17 age range. In 2017, there were 40.6 million inhabitants. In 2018, those in that age range numbered 37 million.

Much work is still there. Seriousness is needed to protect children from exploitation. Their rights must be fulfilled, especially in the education sector. Children must be built. Because they are the most logical reason if this nation wants to bet its future.