May 08, 2024 Last Updated 5:01 AM, May 8, 2024

Law

New law, new villages?

The new Village Law could substantially change Indonesia’s villages. Not necessarily for the better.

Creating Indonesia’s Village Law

How a law that goes against many vested interests was enacted

The myth of the harmonious village

Indonesia’s Village Law fails to provide village communities with control over their elites

New law, old bureaucracy

Taking stock after two years of village law implementation

The village head as patron

The Village Law might restore the dominance that village heads enjoyed under Suharto

Participation in Ngada

Why residents in Ngada district are exceptionally eager to take part in village meetings 

Traditional village institutions and the Village Law

The Village Law provides recognition for traditional village institutions, but villagers in Bali and Mentawai are not interested

Online dating apps blocked

A government crackdown on dating apps is depriving LGBT Indonesians of a crucial resource

Book extract: Sarongge

Lontar Modern Indonesia: ‘But that is, after all, the relationship between land and power... Whoever holds power will impose their view.’

Petikan buku: Sarongge

Lontar Modern Indonesia: ‘Siapa yang pegang kuasa, akan paksakan pandangannya tentang bagaimana cara mengatur aset alam itu.’

No durable solutions

A new presidential decree delivers little for asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia

Falling through the cracks

The JKN or the National Health Insurance is failing Indonesia’s most vulnerable

Something's cooking

Biogas reduces the burden of fossil fuel subsidies

A parliamentary free-for-all

Indonesia’s political parties have lost control over the national budgeting process, as members of parliament prioritise their constituencies – and themselves.

Justice denied?

The Indonesian way of confronting the past underestimates the importance of truth and justice

Heritage adrift

What next for Indonesia’s underwater cultural heritage?

Samarinda’s deadly mining pits

The end of the boom has not meant an end to the perilous impact of coal mining in East Kalimantan

Masa lalu yang tersembunyi

Esai foto-foto Pulau Buru

Ugly sanctuary

The Galang Island refugee camp has a chequered history

Negotiating adat

The Kasepuhan community are at the cutting edge of a movement to restore customary forest rights

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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.