When Indonesia's president pays for diplomacy out of his own pocket

Indonesia's president has been paying from his own wallet when official trips abroad cost more than the state budget allows. His cabinet secretary, Teddy Indra Wijaya, confirmed it: when Prabowo Subianto's foreign visits go over budget, the president covers the difference himself. It was presented as generosity. A sharp essay from Indonesia at Melbourne, a research site run by University of Melbourne scholars, argues it is the opposite: a quiet erosion of the line between public office and private money.

The point is simple. Foreign policy belongs to the state, not to one rich man. When a president pays for the country's diplomacy himself, the wall between public duty and private wealth starts to disappear. That may look harmless under a well-meaning leader, but it sets a precedent a future president could use to buy influence or hide who really pays for what the government does.

There is a second worry: how much Prabowo travels. Since taking office he has flown abroad often, signing memorandums and shaking hands. The essay asks whether all this movement actually delivers. Diplomacy, it argues, should be judged by agreements that get signed and then actually carried out, not by passport stamps. Deals that are announced and quietly forgotten do little for people at home, while the trips still cost time and money the country could spend elsewhere.

Why it matters

This is about who controls the state, not just one president's habits. If official duties can be paid for privately, voters lose the ability to see and question how public power is used, and a norm set now will outlast Prabowo. For readers, it is a reason to watch what all these foreign deals actually produce back home, in jobs, investment, or prices, rather than the number of trips.