https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/6989/feed Joe Cochrane is an award-winning Jakarta-based foreign correspondent, editor and former war correspondent. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg When US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Indonesia next week, China, the South China Sea maritime disputes, freedom of navigation and regional security will top his agenda in talks with Indonesian leaders to “preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific”, as he told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. But the real catalyst for his visit to Indonesia, a one-day trip on Thursday to the capital Jakarta, is not about China but a scheduled address to the world’s largest Islamic youth organisation... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3106855/pompeos-indonesia-visit-focus-muslim-youth-group-and-engaging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3106855/pompeos-indonesia-visit-focus-muslim-youth-group-and-engaging?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Oct 2020 10:49:29 +0000 One is an Indonesian businesswoman and corruption suspect who fled the country 17 years ago while being investigated for allegedly embezzling more than US$200 million in export loans from a state-owned bank. The other is an Indonesian businessman who fled the country in 2009, one day before the country’s Supreme Court convicted him for his role in embezzling tens of millions of dollars in state bailout funds for banks – but who somehow came back into the country unhindered earlier this year. The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3093004/under-jokowi-government-corruption-still-haunts-indonesia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3093004/under-jokowi-government-corruption-still-haunts-indonesia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jul 2020 02:00:16 +0000 Indonesia has set up a task force to attract businesses leaving China and is in talks with the US government to help American firms make the move – but there have been few takers, with analysts saying there are still obstacles to doing business there. Earlier this week, President Joko Widodo announced that seven companies, including South Korea’s LG and Japan’s Panasonic, had confirmed their relocation to Indonesia. Just one firm from the United States, light product maker Alpan, said it was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3091697/indonesia-wants-firms-relocating-china-why-are-so-few-coming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3091697/indonesia-wants-firms-relocating-china-why-are-so-few-coming?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jul 2020 08:00:19 +0000 The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for Indonesia’s economy. Millions are unemployed, the country is only partially reopened, and the World Bank has warned that Southeast Asia’s largest economy could see negative GDP growth this year – puncturing the hopes of state officials targeting a 2.5 per cent increase. But a new and somewhat unexpected victim of Covid-19 could be Indonesia’s democratic system. Indonesia’s Bali becomes hideout for foreigners amid pandemic Public satisfaction with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3088538/indonesia-sours-democracy-coronavirus-ravages-economy-survey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3088538/indonesia-sours-democracy-coronavirus-ravages-economy-survey?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2020 04:00:16 +0000 The Kolong Community Reading Park in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta must be one of the most quirky libraries in the world. Loud noises and laughing are normal – and in fact encouraged. That’s because this open-air park is located directly under a towering flyover and sandwiched between two large roads where vehicles and motorcycles honk, rev their engines and emit exhaust fumes – very unlibrary-like. “Oh yeah. That is our challenge. Any kind of sounds – traffics, smell, exhaust – we have to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3082410/no-silence-please-open-air-park-indonesia-worlds-most?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3082410/no-silence-please-open-air-park-indonesia-worlds-most?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2020 01:30:10 +0000 Indonesia on Friday embarked on the most melancholy Ramadan in its modern history, as hundreds of millions of the faithful in the world’s most-populous Muslim nation endure mandatory shutdowns of mosques and other religious gatherings because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In normal times, many Indonesian Muslims would flock to their local mosques for evening prayers on the night before the fasting month, which began on Friday. The weekly Friday prayers, an obligation for Muslim men, are also... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3081488/indonesias-melancholy-ramadan-echoed-singapore-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3081488/indonesias-melancholy-ramadan-echoed-singapore-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2020 12:17:00 +0000 The Indonesian resort island of Bali has declined to introduce strict measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, despite several other regions of the country doing so, raising fears it could rapidly spread and cause far more infections and deaths. The capital Jakarta was the first to mandate large-scale social restrictions, known by the acronym PSBB, which include compulsory social distancing, the use of face masks in public, limited public transport, the closure of public areas,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3080472/coronavirus-indonesia-fears-over-balis-laid-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3080472/coronavirus-indonesia-fears-over-balis-laid-back?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2020 01:45:15 +0000 The most valuable possession that Hasib, 40, owns with his wife Khomsiah, 38, is their shop in a trash-strewn riverside slum near the centre of the Indonesian capital Jakarta. The shop, hidden between a five-star hotel and a Marine Corps barracks, sells everything from instant coffee and tea packets, instant noodles, cold drinks and cigarettes, to cheap toys and bags of rice. But it is the little things that the couple neither owns nor sells which could gravely affect them and their three... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3075175/coronavirus-poor-indonesian-families-most-risk-sudden-spike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3075175/coronavirus-poor-indonesian-families-most-risk-sudden-spike?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2020 04:00:12 +0000 Indonesian authorities have swung into action to track down dozens of close contacts of the country’s first two coronavirus patients, a mother and daughter from a city south of Jakarta who contracted the disease from a Japanese citizen visiting from Malaysia. It comes as Jakarta’s governor, Anies Baswedan, said he would stop issuing permits for mass gatherings in the city, fuelling another rush of panic buying in the Indonesian capital. Indonesia has for weeks denied it had any virus cases, but... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3064819/coronavirus-indonesia-scrambles-find-first-patients?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3064819/coronavirus-indonesia-scrambles-find-first-patients?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2020 12:33:44 +0000 What was supposed to be one of the most significant moments in the lives of Indonesian Muslims has turned instead to heartache and worry, after Saudi Arabia this week suspended visas for the minor pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, known as umrah, over coronavirus fears. The haj, the most significant religious journey of Muslims worldwide that is set to start on July 28, could also be thrown into doubt due to the growing epidemic, which has sickened over 85,000 people worldwide and killed... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3053037/indonesians-stranded-after-saudi-arabia-suspends-umrah?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3053037/indonesians-stranded-after-saudi-arabia-suspends-umrah?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2020 01:00:19 +0000 Indonesia this month has seen a host of attempts by lawmakers and leaders to marginalise or otherwise humiliate women, ranging from proposed legislation banning married women from holding jobs to an Islamic decree requiring “rich” Indonesians to marry “poor” Indonesians. The senior government minister who proposed the decree on marriage said it could be a way to reduce poverty. About 100 million Indonesians live on less than US$2 a day, in a country rich in natural resources but dragged down by... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3052412/indonesias-family-resilience-push-lawmakers-ridiculed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3052412/indonesias-family-resilience-push-lawmakers-ridiculed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2020 04:00:17 +0000 Several weeks into the new coronavirus outbreak, Indonesia continues to remain completely free of the disease, despite its neighbours reporting numerous confirmed cases. The country’s top health official is under increasing pressure to explain why no cases have been reported, especially in light of a recent Harvard University study that used mathematical probabilities including travel destinations to conclude that Indonesia should have had confirmed infections by now. “We owe it to God,” said... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3051068/we-owe-it-god-indonesia-prays-how-it-keeping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3051068/we-owe-it-god-indonesia-prays-how-it-keeping?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Feb 2020 02:00:12 +0000 Frantic customers throwing any non-perishable items they can get their hands on into shopping trolleys. Face masks, disinfectants and floor cleaners vanishing from pharmacy shelves, with no replacement stock available. These have been some of the disturbing regional fallouts from the deadly coronavirus outbreak, with multiple instances reported in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. The same thing is now happening in Indonesia. The only question is why? As of Friday, neither the Indonesian... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3050731/coronavirus-first-hong-kong-and-singapore-now-virus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3050731/coronavirus-first-hong-kong-and-singapore-now-virus?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Feb 2020 06:30:15 +0000 Ben Askren is an Olympian and decorated MMA fighter. But he is adamant that never the twain shall meet, despite long-running efforts, and a new one out of Asia, to have MMA included in the Olympic Games. While stopping short of saying “over my dead body”, Askren told the Post: “I don’t really see the need for MMA to become an Olympic sport. I think the Olympics is corrupt. I think the IOC [International Olympic Committee] is an awful organisation, and I think the world would be better off not... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3050603/former-ufc-star-ben-askren-doesnt-want-mma?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3050603/former-ufc-star-ben-askren-doesnt-want-mma?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Feb 2020 04:41:24 +0000 Indonesia has earned a dubious distinction over its Southeast Asian neighbours in recent weeks: its government insists there has not been a single confirmed case of the new coronavirus, despite multiple cases in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, among other regional nations. But as the number of new quarantines continued to shoot up across Indonesia in recent days – including 68 Indonesians who have been told to stay at home for 14 days after returning to North Sumatra Province... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3050064/coronavirus-indonesia-has-0-infections-so-far-and-its-making?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3050064/coronavirus-indonesia-has-0-infections-so-far-and-its-making?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Feb 2020 01:30:07 +0000 Indonesia’s arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of an American environmental journalist earlier this month, for the “crime” of attending a public legislative hearing on indigenous land rights in Borneo, would be considered uncalled for, in democratic countries, at least. Philip Jacobson, an editor for international environmental website Mongabay, was arrested on December 18 and then tossed into a detention centre on January 21, after being spotted at a legislative meeting in Borneo’s Central... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3048120/indonesias-arrest-us-journalist-reflects-trend-xenophobia-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3048120/indonesias-arrest-us-journalist-reflects-trend-xenophobia-against?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jan 2020 02:00:09 +0000 The ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague that Myanmar cooperates in a genocide inquiry relating to its Rohingya Muslim group raises huge questions, and a potentially nightmarish scenario for the United Nations and international community if Myanmar does not comply. The court, in a stern and unanimous ruling on Thursday, ordered Myanmar’s government to take special measures to protect the Rohingya, a stateless group living in the western state of Rakhine who have suffered... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3047589/what-if-myanmar-refuses-comply-icj-ruling-rohingya-muslims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3047589/what-if-myanmar-refuses-comply-icj-ruling-rohingya-muslims?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2020 10:19:22 +0000 For decades since its independence from the Dutch, successive Indonesian presidents have called for the country’s historic capital, Jakarta, to be relocated. It was mostly political banter – the costs involved were mind-boggling – but no longer, it seems. President Joko Widodo, just weeks after being sworn in for a second and final five-year term last October, announced his intention to flee the pollution, floods and traffic jams of Jakarta, whose centuries-old colonial buildings still stand in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3046654/will-arab-japanese-cash-help-indonesias-joko-widodo-realise-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3046654/will-arab-japanese-cash-help-indonesias-joko-widodo-realise-his?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2020 01:30:11 +0000 Braving forecasts of torrential rain, workers from a coalition of labour unions gathered outside the House of Representatives in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Monday, to protest against a new law they believe will cut severance pay and the minimum wage. While the unions are demanding that lawmakers scrap the Omnibus Bill on Job Creation, the government of President Joko Widodo remains unmoved, despite multiple demonstrations and a strike in the capital last week setting up a showdown for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3045886/indonesias-labour-unions-protest-street-against-omnibus-jobs-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3045886/indonesias-labour-unions-protest-street-against-omnibus-jobs-law?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jan 2020 11:00:22 +0000 The Chinese vessels at the centre of a spat between Beijing and Jakarta over illegal fishing activity have left waters around the Natuna Islands, according to the Southeast Asian nation’s armed forces. Major General Sisriadi, head of the armed forces’ information centre, on Thursday told local media that air reconnaissance conducted by the army showed the Chinese ships had left the waters around the islands, located off the northwest coast of Borneo in the South China Sea. “The Chinese vessels... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3045388/friends-again-chinese-fishing-vessels-spat-indonesia-leave?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3045388/friends-again-chinese-fishing-vessels-spat-indonesia-leave?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2020 10:30:13 +0000 In normal times, the unveiling of a missile-capable military drone by Indonesia’s main domestic weapons producer would not raise many eyebrows. But the fact that the roll-out of a prototype of its MALE unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, came on the same day that Jakarta filed a diplomatic protest with Beijing caused a stir, even if unintentionally. Indonesia last week protested to Beijing over alleged illegal fishing and the presence of China’s coastguard in its maritime exclusive economic zone... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3044761/indonesia-unveils-new-drone-eye-chinas-incursions-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3044761/indonesia-unveils-new-drone-eye-chinas-incursions-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jan 2020 02:00:20 +0000 Trouble is brewing in Indonesia’s “Island of the Gods” and it seems there are plenty of things to blame: Donald Trump, cheap tours aimed at the Chinese market, and worsening pollution. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali last year dropped 35 per cent, raising eyebrows throughout the hospitality sector and putting in jeopardy China’s crown as the island’s leading source of visitors, ahead of Australia. According to the Bali Tourism Board, the overall number of visitors to the island for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3044593/trump-traffic-trash-why-bali-losing-its-shine-chinese-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/economics/article/3044593/trump-traffic-trash-why-bali-losing-its-shine-chinese-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Jan 2020 03:00:16 +0000 After coming out of retirement and swapping the Singapore-based One Championship to finally try his hand in the UFC, Ben Askren’s career in the octagon started as hoped. With an unblemished 18-0 record coming in, a first-round submission of former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 235 last March signalled his intent in the division. But he lost his next two fights in bad fashion: a vicious, record-breaking flying knee knockout by Jorge Masvidal within five seconds in July, and three... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3043403/ufc-ben-askren-talks-challenges-mma-fighter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3043403/ufc-ben-askren-talks-challenges-mma-fighter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Dec 2019 07:36:44 +0000 The controversy started with a photo on Twitter showing a notice in the window of a Western-style bakery in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The notice, which appeared last week on paper with no letterhead or logo, advised customers the bakery would no longer design Christmas themes or symbols on its cakes over the holiday season. Nor would it design cakes with Halloween or Valentine’s Day themes, it added, as if for good measure. Within days, the post, and later footage of Christian Indonesian... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3040016/ghost-indonesias-christmas-past-religious-intolerance-raised?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3040016/ghost-indonesias-christmas-past-religious-intolerance-raised?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2019 01:15:09 +0000 John Lineker has never been to Indonesia – but he plans to make the most of his trip. The former UFC fighter known as “Hands of Stone” will make his first Asian appearance at One Championship’s “Dawn of Valor” event in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, on Friday night. The 29-year-old bantamweight from Paranagua, Brazil, with a professional record of 31-9, will face fellow bantamweight Muin “Tajik” Gafurov of Tajikistan (16-2), who already has five wins under his name with One Championship. Both... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3034449/one-championship-john-lineker-plans-give-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3034449/one-championship-john-lineker-plans-give-show?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2019 12:15:15 +0000 Now retired, holding normal jobs or raising children, former pro-democracy activists in Southeast Asia must feel a mix of astonishment, admiration and envy at the critical role of social media in the dramatic uprisings in the Middle East this year. A report by the Dubai School of Government found that the number of Facebook users in Arab nations increased by 30 per cent in the first quarter of this year, and 94.3 per cent of Egyptians surveyed said they received news and information on events... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/972478/activists-thrive-twitter-facebook?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/972478/activists-thrive-twitter-facebook?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 When Indonesian radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir spoke for the final time last month at his terrorism trial, he continued his venomous rants against the United States, accusing it of waging war against Islam in his country and framing him of charges of forming a terrorist army. Hundreds of his supporters in the gallery and the car parks of the South Jakarta District Court - young men in skullcaps and young women in burqas - raised their fists and shouted 'Allahu akbar' ('God is... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/971030/leader-without-following?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/971030/leader-without-following?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Indonesia is on the cusp of an economic explosion that could bring untold wealth and certain entry into the BRICS club of leading emerging economies. If only Jakarta could get around to lighting the fuse. According to the Indonesian government's US$388 billion economic development plan, the country should become the world's 12th-largest economy by 2025, boosting gross domestic product to as high as US$4.5 trillion, compared to US$700 billion last year. Per capita income is also projected to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/966268/jakartas-plan-economic-boom-requires-more-action-and-less-talk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/966268/jakartas-plan-economic-boom-requires-more-action-and-less-talk?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Since the downfall of their strongman father 13 years ago next month, the adult children of the late Indonesian dictator Suharto have studiously avoided the public spotlight. And with good reason: Suharto himself never appeared in a court to face charges of embezzling billions of dollars during his corrupt and authoritarian regime, so why would his children willingly risk public wrath in today's democratic Indonesia by reminding everyone that they remain extremely wealthy? But there are... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/965691/civil-suits-put-brutal-suharto-era-and-his-children-back-public-eye?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/965691/civil-suits-put-brutal-suharto-era-and-his-children-back-public-eye?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Every day, Joseph Hwang leaves his home in Jakarta and travels to one of the filthiest places in Indonesia. Off a highway in West Java, and up a winding bumpy two-lane road past rice fields and a shanty town of garbage scavengers, lies the Sumur Batu landfill. The 10-hectare site is the final resting place for about 500 tonnes of garbage hauled daily from Bekasi, a city of 2 million people south of Jakarta. To call it a landfill is a stretch: Sumur Batu consists of mountains of garbage, the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/964173/carbon-credits-run-aground-un-bureaucracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/964173/carbon-credits-run-aground-un-bureaucracy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 In September 1999, the Indonesian armed forces reached perhaps its lowest point in its proud but controversial history. As Indonesian soldiers went on a burning, pillaging and murder rampage in the province of East Timor after it voted for independence, then-United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan warned that its actions could constitute 'crimes against humanity'. UN prosecutors in Dili later indicted seven acting or retired Indonesian army generals to stand trial there for war crimes,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/963841/indonesias-military-pariah-toast-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/963841/indonesias-military-pariah-toast-town?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 In the old days of rough-and-tumble Southeast Asian politics, political players might attempt to smear their adversaries by calling them a communist, Western lackey, Vietnamese puppet or other such nasty labels. As wealth came to the region in the 1980s and 90s, it was just as effective to smear political rivals by accusing them of corruption. But a new weapon has emerged in today's regional political landscape: the sex tape. Growing political and religious conservatism, particularly in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/742231/sex-tapes-new-weapon-smear-foes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/742231/sex-tapes-new-weapon-smear-foes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Ratih Dewi has no qualms about making money - and lots of it. And why should she? As the Jakarta-based head of alternative investments for the Indonesian subsidiary of Nikko Cordial Securities, she is responsible for delivering returns to clients. But that doesn't mean Dewi, her company and her clients can't operate ethically. Among the alternative investments that Nikko manages in Indonesia are those in renewable energy, including mini-hydro plants and waste-to-energy projects, and it... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/731882/money?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/731882/money?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000 A few blocks off Jalan Kemang Raya, the main drag in Jakarta's trendy Kemang district, and a stone's throw from the shops of tailors, antique-furniture dealers and dog groomers, stand plush houses and villas with swimming pools in their back gardens. These homes are popular with expatriates but in one, the talk is not about international-school fees or family weekends in Bali, but about the causes of deforestation. In the run-up to the next United Nations climate-change conference, which... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/731883/growing-pains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/731883/growing-pains?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000 US President Barack Obama paid back his boyhood home of Indonesia big time this week. In an overnight state visit complete with live global media coverage, Obama hopefully corrected a bunch of misperceptions about the world's fourth-largest country, namely that it's a dangerous backwater and overrun with radical Muslims. Of course, Indonesia is neither of these things. On the contrary, it's an emerging global economic power, has embraced democracy better than any Eastern European nation did... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/730138/shaping-attitudes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/730138/shaping-attitudes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The Indonesian government is extremely proud of running the world's largest Muslim-majority nation. But as the saying goes, 'Twice the pride, double the fall'. On more than one occasion in the past five years, Indonesia has attempted to wade into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by volunteering to be a peace broker - and was promptly ignored by Israel, the Middle East Quartet, and even their fellow Muslims in Palestine. Jakarta also hosted an international conference on halting sectarian... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/725672/scholar-challenge-views-extremists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/725672/scholar-challenge-views-extremists?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 It was same-old, same-old this week on one quiet, tree-lined street in Jakarta's exclusive Menteng district. Workers swept leaves off footpaths, maids and guards scurried about in giant residential compounds, chauffeur-driven luxury cars passed by. It's a daily rhythm on this road, Jalan Cendana, that has changed little for more than 30 years. But outside this bubble of entitlement and tradition, Indonesia continues to undergo unprecedented change. It was on the middle of this street that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/716660/graft-still-stymies-model-democracy-after-suharto?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/716660/graft-still-stymies-model-democracy-after-suharto?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Two wives slug it out for a district chief office seat left vacant by their polygamous politician husband. A sex kitten lingerie model launches her campaign for a deputy district chief job wearing high heals and oversized sunglasses. Molotov cocktail-throwing rioters attack a legislative building, injuring 19 people and torching 22 vehicles, after a religious leader they supported suspiciously failed a mandatory health exam for candidates. And all this occurred in just one province, East Java,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/715912/intimidation-bribes-thuggery-indonesia-goes-polls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/715912/intimidation-bribes-thuggery-indonesia-goes-polls?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 During his impressive university career at Oxford, Abhisit Vejjajiva took a first in philosophy, politics and economics. One can only hope that the embattled prime minister of Thailand has time for some deep thoughts on what has happened in Bangkok in recent days, and how it all went so wrong. The deaths of 15 people from more than a week of clashes between army troops and anti-government protesters occupying part of the central shopping and business district of Bangkok could very well spell... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/715048/abhisit-takes-stock-after-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/715048/abhisit-takes-stock-after-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Something is wrong on the Island of the Gods. The popular resort destination of Bali should be abuzz with optimism as it heads into its annual peak season with expectations to set a new record for tourist arrivals. But the island's collective attention has been diverted by two vastly different police investigations that have people up in arms and are causing unwanted media attention. The first involves the continuing search for a suspect in a series of rapes of young Balinese girls in recent... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/713900/suharto-era-response-gigolo-film-has-bali-reeling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/713900/suharto-era-response-gigolo-film-has-bali-reeling?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Among Australia's key exports, mineral wealth and the wheat and wool that built the nation's economy spring to mind. But education now ranks behind only coal, iron ore and gold on the list of the country's top exports, earning A$17.2 billion (HK$123 billion) a year thanks to the 500,000 overseas students studying on Australian campuses. It is not just about the money, though - Australia sees its education system as a security tool, in particular with Indonesia, its closest neighbour and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/712799/regional-security-driving-force-behind-campus-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/712799/regional-security-driving-force-behind-campus-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Vietnam might just be ruing its luck in hosting the 2010 Asean summit of Southeast Asian leaders beginning in Hanoi today. At a time when Vietnam and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations want to talk about economic integration and how a new free trade agreement with China is faring, a familiar bogeyman threatens again to overshadow the gathering: Myanmar. The sad, perpetual deadlock between Myanmar's ruling military junta and pro-democracy opposition led by Aung San... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/710768/asean-leaders-face-turning-point-myanmar-stand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/710768/asean-leaders-face-turning-point-myanmar-stand?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Khmer Rouge fighters involved in the massacre of 22 people in a racially motivated attack last year were welcomed into the army yesterday. About 150 guerillas from rebel Division 785 shed their olive-green uniforms for government fatigues in a ceremony in rural Kompong Chhnang province, 80km northwest of Phnom Penh. Division members murdered 22 people and wounded 16, most of them ethnic Vietnamese, in an April 1998 attack on Chnouk Trou, a small fishing village. They attacked without... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/272408/guerillas-tainted-massacre-join-army?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/article/272408/guerillas-tainted-massacre-join-army?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Feb 1999 16:00:00 +0000