It’s May Day and the spirit of anti-capitalism bubbles in Indonesia.

Ten thousand workers are marching through Jakarta’s main streets. Many of their demands are traditional ones, but there is a growing labour movement focus on the role of the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund and the neo-liberal policies they enforce. At the May Day organising committee, union reps quizzed me on how the struggle against globalisation is going in Australia.

Last night in Bandung I saw a TV show about punks. A young guy told the interviewer their movement is ‘a form of resistance against the established system which the capitalists don’t like to see’.

The marchers arrive from several directions, converging on the State Palace to give everyone a feel for what it would be like to challenge for power. The metal section of one of the old ‘yellow unions’ forms up at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, singing ‘Solidarity Forever’ in English. We don’t want to march with them – they’re pretty conservative – but their presence is still a step forward.

It isn’t long before we find contingents with red banners. Placards tackle everything from privatisation to sexual harassment. The march route seems endless in the steamy heat.

On the platform in front of the palace, a teacher condemns the ‘satan creature of globalisation’. He’s wearing a Queensland Teachers Union hat. Dita Sari tells the crowd that liberation comes not from capitalist politicians, but from ‘us alone, our two hands, our two feet, our ideas’.

I was at the first post-Suharto May Day in 1999. It was small, and half of the participants were radical students. Since then there have been some hard times for Indonesian comrades. But today I’m marching down Jalan Sudirman with thousands of workers, singing ‘The Internationale’ in Indonesian. And the world is full of hope.