The Post-Suharto era in Indonesia that began immediately after the downfall of Suharto as president in 1998
In 1998, he joined the Reformasi movement initiated by Anwar, and founded the Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (DEMA) "to promote democratic awareness among Malaysian citizens and to protest against the University and University College Act".
However, this would also force the New Order regime to ban any demonstration reflecting the people's voice over Reformasi. In May 1998, Jakarta was in chaos situation following the riots in some parts of the city.