The idea that one's workplace could and would provide lifetime security is just one of the era's legacy that was immediately consigned to history.
Suddenly everything became short-term and the future extremely hazy.
Companies were lucky if they could predict what to expect the following month.
Now, four years later, with corruption and political infighting still rampant, it appears little has changed. But scratching beneath the surface in fact reveals a society in the throes of fundamental upheaval. Gone are the days when a rising Government official was every mother's preferred in-law, while becoming a tiny cog in a giant multinational company or bank is equally passe. Entrepreneurship and self-made success are the new buzzwords. The get-up-and-go members of the twenty-something generation have left their banking or IT treadmills to launch their own day-spa, noodle shop, bookstore or art gallery. These are the start-ups that intend to capitalise on growing leisure needs from an expanding class of people seeking to de-stress after long hours on the job - and housewives looking for a place to gossip in their neighbourhood groups.
Pluralism is the other noticeable difference. Anti-Western Muslim magazines sit comfortably alongside soft porn tabloids on newsstands today; girls wearing Islamic headscarves and front streak Lea jeans in Nike Presto look-alike shoes bop to the Cranberries 'Salvation' beat at packed venues, and teenagers sing Chinese pop songs at Independence Day celebrations - an act that would have led directly to prison less than a decade ago.
Even the word 'openness' has a new meaning: radio DJs freely announce their sexual preferences to listeners while talking about condoms and premarital sex with callers who, in turn, publicly share their experiences.
Young writers use their full names on the glossy hard covers of a second printing of a disturbing book about sexual inhibition, in words that shame readers into realising that the most daring emotions they had ever expressed were 'care' and 'like'.
Public demonstrations of inner feelings and moves to get them off one's chest were unthinkable before reform. Now a new generation of Indonesians is slowly coming out of its shell and confidently expressing what it believes in. And communications are playing an important role, with today's youth exchanging information, thoughts and ideas via the latest Nokia or Treo.
It may still be a slow-moving process, but 'Reformasi' (as Indonesians call it), and the accompanying opportunities for brands targeting consumers with an eye for value and enhanced lifestyle, is unstoppable.
