The people of Indonesia & their culture, politics, economy and environment - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

NTB & NTT

Essay: Under the poetic stars

Makassar International Writers Festival and its ripple effects

Working together to improve maternal health

In 2015 Indonesia signed up the the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to reduce its high rate of maternal mortality. Little progress has been made.

Beyond technical fixes

Indonesia is blessed with considerable potential for renewable energy generation, but so far has been slow to grasp it

Pastur-pastur, nenek dan skizofrenia

Pastur Kamilus menjadi panutan bagi pekerja sosial dalam upaya pembebasan korban pasung di Flores

Adolescent pregnancy in Manggarai

Premarital sex must be acknowledged as unavoidable, to end a vicious cycle of lost potential

Struggling for a job

Misinformation and lack of opportunity form disproportionate barriers for rural youth looking for work

Is education the golden plough?

Flores youth migrate for education, but are their university degrees worth the investment?

Mining – who benefits?

Two carts rest on a mining site path. The photo is taken at an angle where the path appears to be going down from left to right.

Mining law changes in decentralising Indonesia raises new challenges and opportunities for local communities

The extractive industries in East Nusa Tenggara

Protestors hold up signs expressing anger at mining activity and exploration.

As a number of communities in East Nusa Tenggara reject mining, tourism as a resistance strategy can be equally exploitative

Church-based resistance to mining in Manggarai

In a forest clearing, a group of villagers surround a priest, listening to his sermon.

Resistance is a way of defending local people’s rights in dealing with mining policy

From mother to citizen

A woman measures the height of a toddler under a tree, surrounded by other women and children. (Vita Febriany)

The New Order actively promoted citizenship of a particular kind for women

Fighting apathy, seeking engagement

Students have mixed feelings about a mandatory community service program at Indonesian universities

Participation in Ngada

Why residents in Ngada district are exceptionally eager to take part in village meetings

A lottery love affair

On the island of Flores, a Singaporean lottery based on the Chinese zodiac is a popular pastime

Food sovereignty and peasant activism

Farmers and would-be farmers in Lombok are fighting a land-rights battle against the tourism industry

Trials of a mother

For women giving birth in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and other rural and remote parts of Indonesia, adequate facilities and trained health workers are not easily reached

No reconciliation without truth

Women who survived ‘1965’ in eastern Indonesia demand state recognition

Underemployed ambitions

Struggling in their transition from education to work, educated young people in rural Flores are often both dependent on and critical of local social support networks

A matter of life or death for the Indonesian nation?

Hunger remains a problem in many Indonesian households

High stakes

ASRIANA KEBON speaks to Indonesian underage minors who were returned to Indonesia following age determination hearings in Darwin

Subscribe to Inside Indonesia

Receive Inside Indonesia's latest articles and quarterly editions in your inbox.

Lontar Modern Indonesia

A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.