Jul 14, 2020 Last Updated 11:50 PM, Jul 2, 2020

Inside Indonesia

Economy

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.

Taking on the timber tycoons

It's lonely in the Forestry Minister's office, says GERRY VAN KLINKEN.

Jakarta money stirs Ujungpandang riot

VEDI HADIZ sent this eyewitness account from South Sulawesi.

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.

Help us clean up!

The World Bank has joined the IMF in a huge rescue package. Indonesian non-government organisations (NGOs) presented this memo to World Bank president James Wolfensohn in Jakarta.

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.

The end of the Asian miracle

The IMF recipe is no cure for Asia's collapsed economies, says WALDEN BELLO. Instead, a people's strategy is emerging that looks to self-reliance and democratic control over capital.

Markets, morals and leadership after the boom

Authoritarian Southeast Asian governments have been dealt a blow by market forces, says MICHAEL VATIKIOTIS, but democracy will not flourish until people begin to organise locally.

From go-go to yo-yo

GERRY VAN KLINKEN traces the spectacular financial events that paralysed the country's business and political elites.

Rare birds die in West Java

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

Whose tourism? Balinese fight back

CAROL WARREN reports on developments at Padanggalak, where outside money and graft encounter strong opposition.

Travels in West Timor

SIMON ANDREWARTHA discovers a quiet invasion by outsiders, even in the remotest villages.

The employment crisis

CHRIS MANNING explains why the workers suffer but cannot protest.

Mamberamo madness

Millions of hectares of pristine tropical forest and thousands of indigenous people are at risk. FRANCES CARR outlines Habibie's 'techno dream' for Irian Jaya.

Capital offence

Indonesia's crisis was caused by global 'market forces', transforming nation-states into commodities. MARK BEESON explains.

Aceh homebound?

Aceh homebound?

In the wake of peace, Acehnese living in Malaysia are thinking about return. But it can be tough leaving a new life to start afresh back home.

Reformasi and Riau's forests

A weak government struggles with 'people power', poverty and pulp companies

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