Millennial Generation

The millennial generation likes being "happy" and absorbing "politainment" as part of their identity.

SALOMO TOBING

Ahmad Najib Burhani

The millennial generation, which is currently in its prime or the most important period of its career and life, is the determinant for the future of this nation. They are creative people and are in leadership positions in a number of businesses, cultures, economies and of course politics.

Even though they lead various sectors of life, including national and regional politics, this millennial generation is the group that is most often misunderstood or misunderstood, especially by the older generation. This is what is often referred to as the intergenerational gap or differences in understanding between generations.

The book Understanding the Role of Indonesian Millennials in Shaping the Nation's Future (ISEAS-BRIN, 2024) explains three phenomena which influences the existence of this intergenerational gap. Firstly, the development of communication and information technology. Technology has made those far away close, but sometimes it makes those who are close (in terms of location) even far away. This technology changes the concept of family, friendship, and patterns of human interaction in general.

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Secondly, as a continuation of the technological revolution, connection with the outside world becomes inevitable and gadgets become a daily necessity, no longer a luxury item. In fact, previously closed villages, such as Baduy, have become very popular on social media.

Third, the internet not only allows people to get information instantly, they often end up being flooded with information. This is what makes us often no longer able to properly digest the various news that comes in, let alone check its truth and accuracy. So, it is natural that a flood of hoaxes, disinformation and misinformation has become an everyday phenomenon. This is what is called an infodemic.

This form of intergenerational gap, for example, will occur in the 2024 Presidential Election. The political choices of this millennial generation are different from those of generation X and baby boomers. Based on the Kompas R&D survey presented in this newspaper (17/2/2024), one of the determining factors for Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka's victory in the 2024 presidential election is young voters.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO (PRI)

Despite the flood, Najwa still exercised her right to vote in the 2024 General Election at polling station 20, Larangan, Tangerang City, Banten, on Wednesday (14/2/2024). Najwa is a first-time voter in the 2024 General Election.

They are divided into three groups, namely generation Z (under 26 years old), young generation Y (26-33 years old), and middle generation Y (34-41 years old). Prabowo-Gibran received 65.9 percent of the vote from the first group of voters, 59.6 percent from the second group, and 54.1 percent from the third group.

In the survey, young voters' tastes for Prabowo-Gibran were determined by several things, including the factor of Gibran being 36 years old and representing the tastes or being able to attract young people, Prabowo-Gibran's campaign pattern and strategy which suited the style of young people, especially with the campaign < i>gemoy, as well as social media which this camp uses very intensively to win the hearts of young people.

Another political issue often misunderstood by the older generation is the phenomenon of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) as a party for young people. The appointment of Kaesang Pangarep as the chairman of the National Coffee Meeting (Kopdarnas) in Jakarta (25/9/2023), the campaign "berpolitik dengan santuy" (doing politics in a relaxed manner), being referred to as "Jokowi's party", and various political maneuvers before and after the elections have made this party ridiculed by some older generations.

As the jargon suggests, these young people do not take politics seriously. They like being happy-happy and absorb what is called politainment as part of their identity. What PSI has done has created conflict with a number of parties from the senior generation who were even involved in midwifery of its birth.

Another difference between generations can be seen in the millennial generation's attitude towards cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFT). They are the main actors of this business with a religious logic that is different from the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), and Muhammadiyah.

Even though the three religious authority institutions in Indonesia forbid cryptocurrencies, young people prefer the logic of profit margins from this business and even if there is a sin, it can be cleaned up by doing it. donation from the profits obtained (Garadian and Arrasyid 2024).

Apart from business and politics, this millennial generation also does not make marriage a priority. While the older generation views having a family and children as part of social status and proof of success, the same cannot be said for young people now. Written in the Op-Ed section of this newspaper, “Different Era, Different Attitude Towards Marriage” (9/3/2024) and a report titled “Marriage is No Longer a Priority” (8/3/2024), there has been a continuous trend of declining marriages since 2018: 2.01 million marriages (2018), 1.96 million (2019), 1.78 million (2020), 1.74 million (2021), 1.70 million (2022), and 1.58 million (2023).

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

A family is fixing the makeup of a bride during a mass wedding confirmation ceremony at Empire Palace in Surabaya, East Java on Tuesday (30/8).

If the millennial generation is seen as a portrait of a demographic bonus whose peak will occur in 2030, then there are several notes that need to be taken into account. Firstly, when looking at the leadership of the millennial generation, especially in politics, it is also necessary to look at the issue of dynastic politics.

There are 20 millennial generations elected as regional leaders in the 2020 regional elections. Unfortunately, 13 of them are part of political dynasties. They are children, in-laws, or spouses of previous regional leaders or other national politicians (Dewi and Fuady 2024). The case of Gibran is certainly the biggest example of this political dynasty.

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Second, when looking at the trend of decreasing marriage rates nationally, there is something ironic here. Of the group of young people who are still getting married, some of them occur in the form of early marriage or under 18 years of age. Child marriage could turn a demographic bonus into a demographic curse. They are of an unstable age and therefore the potential for divorce is high. Those who should be contributing to demographic investment and opening windows of opportunity apparently already have to take care of their families and children.

As reported by this daily, "The High Rate of Child Marriage in Indonesia" (8/3/2024), Nusa Tenggara Barat and Sumatera Selatan are the regions with the highest proportion of child marriage cases in Indonesia. The reasons are diverse, ranging from economic to religious understanding.

Third, apart from the intergenerational gap, this gap can also occur among those in the millennial generation, but with different economies (rich and poor) and geography (rural and urban). This can be seen in the case written by Ibnu Nadzir in "Millennial-style Nationalism: A Disruption?" (2021) when comparing the fates of Rich Chigga and Hatf.

Both have imaginations that are connected to the global world because of the internet. Rich became an international rapper thanks to YouTube, while Hatf became a terrorist and was killed in Syria. The internet connects the millennial generation to different communities and creates different destinies.

Ahmad Najib Burhani,Research Professor at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)