Writing on the wall

Remember the election last May? MAS SUJOKO was there and listened in to the people's vote, recorded on walls all over Yogyakarta.

What the elite do when their banks are in trouble

Many private banks set up by Indonesia's super-wealthy in the 1980s are reeling under the weight of mismanagement. But connections sometimes allow them to evade the laws of financial gravity, as SUARA INDEPENDEN shows in these two reports.

The breasts of Bali

Michel Picard, Bali: Cultural tourism and touristic culture, Singapore: Archipelago Press, 1996, 231pp Rrp: $US 25.00. Reviewed by RON WITTON

Death of a journalist

'I write the truth and if I have to die for it, well so be it' wrote Udin shortly before he died. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL investigates.

Smoking gun

The fires were no natural disaster, says JOKO WALUYO. The smoking gun is in the hands of plantation companies.

The East Timor peace process

Heike Krieger, East Timor and the international community: Basic documents, Cambridge University Press, 1997, 494+xxviii pp, hardcover, Rrp AU$160.Geoffrey C. Gunn, East Timor and the United Nations: The case for intervention, Lawrenceville, N.J: Red Sea Press, 1997, 241+vi pp, paperback, Rrp US$19.95. Avail: Red Sea Press, 11-D Princess Road, Lawrenceville, N.J., USA 08648-2319; fax: 1-609-844-0198. Reviewed by RICHARD TANTER

Art for a better world

TOM PLUMMER speaks with Moelyono, an artist engaged with farmers threatened by a large dam.

Sun, sand and smoke

Air crashes, riots, smog, and a currency crisis dented tourist arrivals in 1997. But, says ANNA KARIN EKLÖF, newly rich Asian tourists will save the industry in the long term.

Sulawesi on two wheels

MICK COOPES drags a bicycle through the wilds of Toraja, South Sulawesi.

No crisis please

The currency crisis is making Thailand more democratic, but not Indonesia, says PRIYAMBUDI.

Permeable border

Indonesian fishermen whose traditional fishing grounds are in Australian waters may have a Mabo-style claim, says CAMPBELL WATSON.

Volunteers rescue reefs

HELEN LANDYMORE found herself surveying rare birds and fish in stunning locations when she joined an Operation Wallacea expedition.
M16s for punks

M16s for punks

Punk rockers turn to Yogya craftsmen for ‘guitar weapons’.

Operation Wallacea

MARK ERDMANN explains the history of an exciting venture in reef conservation using volunteer divers.

Reefs alive!

Tomas Tomascik, Annmarie Janice Mah, Anugerah Nontji & Mohammad Kasim Moosa, The ecology of the Indonesian seas, Singapore: Periplus, part I (ISBN 962- 593-078-7, 642pp), part II (ISBN 962-593-163-5, 745pp). Reviewed by IAN DUTTON

Rare birds die in West Java

Impoverished villagers kill huge numbers of migrating birds resting on Java's foreshores each year. JOHN McCARTHY reports

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