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.

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.

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