Jakarta's iconic Tugu Selamat Datang, or welcome monument, featuring bronze statues of a man and a woman waving warmly was the scene of violent protests last week over a new sweeping "omnibus law" to reform tax and labour.

Plumes of black smoke leapt into the sky after a bus stop near the city's landmark roundabout, known as Bundaran HI, was set ablaze last Thursday.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the mobs, who also clashed near the National Monument, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the presidential palace.

Over three days, similar scenes were repeated in at least a dozen cities across the vast archipelago - from Medan on Sumatra island in the west to Makassar on Sulawesi island in the east.

Tens of thousands of workers from the textile, energy and automotive industries, among others, had poured onto the streets in collective anger, to demand the repeal of the job creation law passed in Parliament last Monday, three days earlier than scheduled.

While the government said the law would boost foreign investment and revive an economy battered by the coronavirus, protesters slammed it as an attack on workers' welfare and the environment.

In Makassar, more than a thousand workers blocked roads and tried to force their way into the provincial Parliament building.

Among them was 29-year-old Francain Edy, who had rallied for three days. Mr Francain, who works for a company distributing gas and water pipes, said he draws less than the monthly minimum wage of about $300 set for the city, and had to suffer more pay cuts during the pandemic.

"Our welfare is only going to worsen," he told The Sunday Times, adding that he is worried about the law's impact on severance pay, rest days and retirement benefits.

Most protesters had sketchy details of the law.

Ms Entin, 51, who works in a biscuit factory in Bandung, West Java, said she had heard the news from her friends. The mother of six said she needed to support her children, who were either in school or had low wages.

"I'm anxious. I'm only getting older every day, and less productive," she said.

"It's already tough getting a job, why does the government have to bother labourers like us?"

The job creation law comes in at more than 900 pages long and amends more than 70 existing laws and 1,200 clauses, mainly to cut red tape and trim overlapping regulations, particularly in business licensing and taxation matters.

Seven out of the nine political parties in Parliament had backed the pro-business reforms, which are expected to create jobs for the 2.9 million young people entering the labour market each year, and the 6.9 million people left unemployed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Labour unions, however, are angered that severance pay would be slashed and minimum wages affected, as well as by the changes making it possible for people to be employed on a contract basis indefinitely.

Environmentalists also saw red over how provinces would no longer need to maintain a minimum forest cover of 30 per cent of provincial land, as well as the scrapping of a strict liability clause that provides a legal basis to sue corporations for causing environmental damage such as forest fires.

Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim organisation, also criticised the law as benefiting only capitalists and trampling on common folk. Its chairman Said Aqil Siradj said: "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer."

UNLIKELY REPEAL

President Joko Widodo had defended the law on Friday, after his working visit to Central Kalimantan triggered a trending Twitter topic with the hashtag #JokowiKabur (Jokowi Runs Away).

He said the protests are driven by disinformation and hoax news on social media, and promised to roll out within three months government regulations and presidential regulations that will provide guidelines on how the principles of the law should be implemented.

Mr Joko, or Jokowi, as he is better known, also invited suggestions from the public as calm returned on Friday.

But challengers of the law are now preparing to seek a judicial review at the Constitutional Court.

Rumours have also swirled about influential figures bankrolling the protests.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto was quoted by CNBC Indonesia last Thursday as saying: "The government knows who is behind the demonstration. We know who is moving it. We know who the sponsor is, we know who had financed it."

COVID-19 AND INSTABILITY FEARS

With the pandemic raging in Indonesia, a more immediate concern is whether the rallies would lead to further spikes in cases. As of yesterday, positive cases stood at 328,952 and deaths at 11,765, the highest in South-east Asia.

In total, 3,800 protesters, some allegedly armed with sharp weapons and Molotov cocktails, were rounded up nationwide. In Jakarta, 34 people of those rounded up were found to be positive for Covid-19 in antibody tests.

For some, the protests sparked memories of the bloody May 1998 riots and civil unrest that had been triggered by economic problems, including food shortages and mass unemployment.

Dr Mohammad Faisal, executive director of the Centre of Reform on Economics Indonesia, however, did not think such events would happen now, as the economy is in a better shape thanks to low inflation and a stable rupiah. But he cautioned against further instability.

He told The Sunday Times: "In 1998, our economy was under pressure and it was worsened by political instability. We don't want that to happen again."

Six things to know about the job creation law

1. What does the law contain?

The "omnibus law" revises 79 existing laws and covers a wide range of issues in 11 clusters, including reducing bureaucracy, streamlining procedures for getting investment permits, labour arrangement and land acquisition, and increasing the ease of doing business, that are all intended to facilitate investment and job creation.

Basically, it does away with overlapping rules and complicated procedures so that it is easier for investors to do business. The reforms promoted by the law also bring flexibility to Indonesia's labour market.

2. What is controversial about the law?

The law cuts severance pay to a maximum of 19 months' salary, from 32 months previously. The government pays an additional six months of wages.

It removes a two-year cap on contract employment, allowing firms to keep workers on contract indefinitely.

It also relaxes restrictions on outsourcing and eases requirements on the hiring of foreign workers.

The law opens the possibility of firms requiring labourers to work six days a week, seven hours a day.

3. What are the main criticisms?

Labour unions say the law slashes workers' rights to a decent wage and threatens their job security.

Civil society groups criticise the lack of transparency and public engagement in deliberating the Bill and the haste with which Parliament passed it into law.

Observers slam the bad timing, as the country struggles economically due to the coronavirus pandemic.

4. What does the business community say?

Businesses cheer the passage of the overdue law.

They also say the law is fair towards workers as new rules require companies to compensate contract workers in the event of job termination.

Lower severance pay and simpler procedures to obtain business permits will raise Indonesia's competitiveness globally and lure more investment.

5. What is in it for President Joko Widodo?

Indonesia has long tried to revise its unfriendly labour law to prevent foreign investors from fleeing to rival countries such as Vietnam.

Previous presidents had tried - and failed - to push through similar laws, as they were fiercely opposed by labour unions. Covid-19 has injected fresh impetus into pushing through the reforms, which are expected to create millions of jobs.

6. Was the backlash not anticipated? Why was there no public consultation?

The government said it had invited labour unions to discuss the Bill, but not all turned up as views were split among them.

It also maintained that the protests are being fuelled by disinformation and fake news on social media.

Some officials have also alleged that influential figures are funding the protests for self-serving purposes.

Linda Yulisman, Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja