Abu Jatuh, Voices Scatter

That morning, Jakarta looked as if someone had dusted it with flour using the wrong recipe. Cars turned dull, bus-stop floors grew dusty, and a thin grey layer settled on window glass. People looked up, some searching for clouds and others for answers. On phone screens, the same images moved from one WhatsApp group to another: ash on vehicles, rooftops, roads and residents’ faces, many of whom had begun wearing masks.

Unlike ordinary rain, what fell from the sky was ash. And, as often happens with an unusual event, volcanic particles were not the only things to descend. Advice, warnings, clarifications, instructions, short videos, comments, jokes, panic and political arguments arrived as well. The Health Ministry, Environment Ministry, Transport Ministry, BMKG, the Geological Agency, BNPB, local governments, doctors, experts and social-media users all appeared to be speaking into the same microphone.

The columnist says he has no statistics on the volume of those statements. But public discussion made one point clear: more voices do not automatically create clearer knowledge.

The conversation about ash from Mount Anak Krakatau revealed five tendencies. Residents described ash settling in their yards, on vehicles and across public facilities, turning a volcano in the Sunda Strait from a distant phenomenon into a matter at home. Anxiety showed itself in increased searches for and purchases of masks. The public also wanted practical instructions: which masks work, how to clean homes and vehicles, whether children should limit their activities, and when people should seek medical attention.

A skeptical voice questioned the line between an alarm and an actual danger. The columnist says such skepticism can help prevent warnings from inflating threats, because if every risk sounds like a major disaster, people may eventually grow tired of warnings. The fifth voice was political, as posts about volcanic ash shifted easily from health and safety to arguments over who cared most, who had failed and who was more fit to lead.