Oct 04, 2024 Last Updated 7:07 AM, Oct 2, 2024

Economy

Un-natural disaster

An unstoppable flow of mud from an explosion in a gas well in Sidoarjo, East Java, has unleashed a plethora of political issues.

Living like kings

Working-class Singaporeans travel to Indonesia’s Riau Islands in search of a fantasy built around sex.

Eight years after 1999

Displaced East Timorese children go hungry in Indonesian West Timor

Glass ceiling in government

Women in the Ministry of Finance face significant obstacles to advancement

Strong women, strong unions

Women are challenging the stereotypes that have long defined Indonesian unionists.

Sex and tea in Semarang

The peculiar relationship between sex and jasmine tea in downtown Semarang keeps both police and prostitutes in a game of cat and mouse.

Shifting faultlines

In the aftermath of religious conflict, ethnic difference is becoming more prominent in Ambon

An unlikely unionist

Inspired by television and Muchtar Pakpahan, a traditional fisherman decides it’s time to act.

Children at work

Officially, 2.4 million Indonesian children work in factories or on the streets, instead of being at school. Unofficially, the number could be 10 million. SHARON BESSELL talks with some working children, and asks what is being done.

Waiting for Ngaben

Kuta Beach ceased some time ago to be what the brochures say it is. For Robert Goodfellow, the piles of plastic rubbish are signs of a deeper malaise.

Fishing in Australian Waters

In the past decade, 140 Indonesian fishermen drowned in Australian waters, a further 400 were imprisoned. JILL ELLIOTT reports that policies dealing with the issue are costly, ineffective and have tragic consequences. She suggests better alternatives.

Regulate or abolish?

Should child labour be abolished or regulated? WENDY MILLER spoke with activist ARIST MERDEKA SIRAIT during the Child Labour Conference at Melbourne's Monash University.

Information revolution

Satellite TV and the Internet are opening Indonesia to the globe. MARK CRAWFORD asks: Will this mean less mind control by the state?

New forms of rural conflict

Idyllic rural Java is rapidly becoming urban. As a result, peasants are now less in conflict with landlords than with the state. This radically changes the way we think about the best way to organise for change, according to JUNI THAMRIN andVEDI HADIZ.

Of money and trees: a 19th-century growth triangle

Unbridled money freely crosses borders and destroys Sumatra's pristine environment.... The 1990s? No, the 1850s, writes FREEK COLOMBIJN.

Colonial legacy

It may be true that Java rules Indonesia. But Javanese labourers in Sumatra, writes BUDI AGUSTONO, have been at the bottom of the heap for generations.

Privatising social justice

As riots erupt across the country, Suharto is forcing rich companies to contribute to a private anti-poverty foundation. But, for DAVID BOURCHIER and IAN CHALMERS, the move smacks of personal greed.

Middletown comes to Malang

JASON PRICE talks with the new middle class and discovers they love progress but keep the poor at arms length.

Big projects, little people

After 20 years, LEA JELLINEK returns to Jakarta's kampungs only to find many demolished for condominiums. The mood of their constantly evicted residents oscillates between resignation and resistance.

Ecotourism: can it save the orangutans?

RACHEL DREWRY investigates ecotourism as a conservation tool.

Latest Articles

Elusive promises of the Yogyakarta International Airport’s aerotropolis

Oct 02, 2024 - KHIDIR M PRAWIROSUSANTO & ELIESTA HANDITYA

Yogyakarta's new international airport and aerotropolis embody national aspirations, but at what cost to the locals it has displaced?

Book review: Beauty within tragedy

Sep 09, 2024 - DUNCAN GRAHAM

Strong ties

Sep 02, 2024 - RIKA FEBRIANI

Tradition helps Minangkabau protect the land from foreign investors

Essay: The life of H.W. Emanuels (1916-1966)

Aug 14, 2024 - RON WITTON

More than six decades after being inspired as an undergraduate in Sydney, Ron Witton retraces his Indonesian language teacher's journey back to Suriname

Essay: Under the poetic stars

Aug 01, 2024 - CAITLIN HUGHES

Makassar International Writers Festival and its ripple effects

Subscribe to Inside Indonesia

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

Bacaan Bumi: Pemikiran Ekologis – sebuah suplemen Inside Indonesia

Lontar Modern Indonesia

Lontar-Logo-Ok

 

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