FEEDING SOLIDARITY ACROSS THE STRAITS

When Indonesia makes headlines for rioting, protests, or political tension, we often feel the ripple effects — not just through news alerts, but through WhatsApp chats from friends and colleagues living there.


And just recently, the Malaysian response isn’t just words of comfort. It’s food.



Through Grabfood, Malaysians are ordering and paying for food for either the Grab delivery drivers (the riots inhibit them to get rides and deliveries) or asking these drivers to send the food to the needy in Jakarta, Surabaya, or wherever they are hunkered down.

A meal can feel like a lifeline — or at least a reminder that someone across the sea is thinking of them.


Food has always been Southeast Asia’s love language. In times of crisis, it becomes even more powerful. We may not be able to stop the chaos on Jakarta’s streets, but we can make sure that some Indonesians has food on their table.


It’s a small, quiet act of solidarity — a way of saying, “Stay safe. Take care.”


It’s also a statement about regional solidarity. It shows how ordinary people, with nothing but a smartphone and an e-wallet, are finding ways to breach the gap left by diplomacy, politics, and geography.


In an era when ASEAN likes to talk about “community,” it is often ordinary citizens who actually live out that vision. Not through speeches, but through nasi padang and ayam geprek delivered in the middle of a riot.


That’s the hard truth. In times of crisis, the real connection between nations doesn’t happen in Putrajaya or Jakarta. It happens one Grab order at a time.


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