Regions

Amidst the 'sea, sand, sun and sex' at Kuta, little girls become sex objects for tourists. Some may even be sold overseas. PUTU WIRATA explores a spat that revealed more than intended.

Street children are not social misfits. They are creative exiles from an oppressive state system, according to LAINE BERMAN and HARRIOTT BEAZLEY.

The world has long known about the East Timorese death toll. Now retired Lt-Col SUBIYANTO speaks out about Indonesian casualties.

Spend a day in an Indonesian courtroom during the recent wave of political trials and you will probably leave at the end of the day hot, sweaty and confused. Make a habit of it and cynicism becomes the order of the day.

Geoffrey Robinson, The dark side of Paradise: political violence in Bali, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995, xxii, 341 pp.

TOM PLUMMER talks with a graphic artist in Yogyakarta whose work is drawing international praise.

RACHEL DREWRY investigates ecotourism as a conservation tool.

MELODY KEMP discovers some quiet achievers in environmental education -- who accept no foreign aid.

FRANZ MAGNIS-SUSENO believes that riots happen because people feel threatened by change.

Goenawan Mohamad explains to GERRY VAN KLINKEN why the independent electoral monitoring committee KIPP inspired so many volunteers to take action.

While others hope environmentally sensitive tourism will help the Togian Islands, KATE NAPTHALI wants to beef up traditional industries instead.

PETER HANCOCK finds that women in a rural Nike factory are considerably worse off than those who work in other factories.

MICHAEL DOVE traces Dayak unhappiness to inequities in state development.

IRIP NEWS SERVICE speaks with a member of Dili's Catholic Commission for Education and uncovers an assassination attempt against Nobel prize winner Bishop Belo

ED ASPINALL finds that Golkar's massive electoral victory sits strangely with its loss of credibility on the streets.

The epidemic is spreading more slowly than once feared, but OCTAVERY KAMIL still wants better resources for prevention work.

STANLEY fears slashing Radio Australia's Indonesian service will harm Australian diplomacy.

AHMAD SOFIAN explores the lives of young people on hundreds of isolated fishing platforms in the Malacca Straits

DAVID HILL and KRISHNA SEN scour the music shops. They find that foreign music is now as Indonesian as batik. From Hindi film to 'Indie' punk rock, foreign musical genres are being indigenised, and imbued with Indonesian political meaning.