Wahid Presidency

Ethnic Chinese experience a ‘reawakening’ of their Chinese identity
Ethnic relations in West Kalimantan are marked with blood
Taking the law into your own hands is now commonplace in urban areas in Indonesia
140,000 progressive Muslim volunteers monitored Indonesia’s April elections
Three women authors take the Indonesian literary world by storm
The interests of local people aren’t served by keeping them out of national parks
The elections show that Indonesian workers are not yet a major political presence
A voice from Aceh’s civil society movement says it’s time for self-criticism
It’s difficult to get human rights education into Indonesian schools
A coat-of-arms signifying Pemuda Pancasila painted at an ojek stop. (Don Meliton/Flickr)
Preman have had to change in order to stay in business
Televangelism comes to regional Indonesia
Building trust through trade in Ambon
Local theatre in Makassar reveals a backlash against Java-centrism
Women are now on both sides of the camera
Subversive ‘underground’ voices in Indonesian rap Michael Bodden It’s Jakarta, June 2004 and the boom box is playing a hip-hop beat. It’s a far cry from the meditative gamelan music, saccharine love songs or even the sensual dangdut one expects to hear in Java. The rapper is Xaqhala and he spins a gritty, rhythmic poem of everyday youth experience.
Indonesia’s comic scene is in a golden age but the industry remains marginal and plagued by self-doubt