TOPIC

/ location

Indonesia

Latest news, in-depth features and opinion from Indonesia.

Capital

Jakarta

Head of State

President Prabowo Subianto

Head of Government

President Prabowo Subianto

Employees work at a steel bar factory in Santa Catarina, Nuevo Leon state, Mexico, in November. Photo: AFP

Americas and the Caribbean

Mexico lawmakers approve tariff increase on Chinese and other Asian imports

The move, which still requires Senate approval, would affect goods like cars, clothes and steel from China, India, South Korea and elsewhere.

2 hours ago

Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo’s push to end direct election for Indonesian regional heads stirs debate

10 Dec 2025 - 6:30PMvideocam

Weddings

Video | Mass wedding in Indonesia

10 Dec 2025 - 5:52PM

Video | Battery explosion suspected in deadly office fire in Jakarta

Witnesses reported seeing a battery spark in the testing area of a drone company on the first floor of the building.

10 Dec 2025 - 5:51PM

01:17

Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

‘She loved us so much’: Indonesian family mourns mother killed in Hong Kong fire

Siti Khotimah was working to fund her children’s education when she died in the Tai Po fire. Her husband wants to see that wish fulfilled.

10 Dec 2025 - 3:55PMvideocam

China technology

Opinion | Why the Global South is embracing Chinese AI

The US champions AI as an autonomous agent, a content creator. China exports a vision of AI as a digital nervous system for the real economy.

10 Dec 2025 - 10:26AMvideocam

Donald Trump

US says Indonesia backtracking on trade pledges as deal risks falling flat

US official Jamieson Greer will hold talks with Indonesian minister Airlangga Hartarto to salvage the pact signed in July.

10 Dec 2025 - 12:49PMvideocam

US President Donald Trump (right) with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Egypt in October. Photo: Reuters

Environment

‘Could go extinct here’: orangutans at risk as Indonesia floods devastate habitat

Orangutans have disappeared since landslides struck Sipirok in North Sumatra province.

9 Dec 2025 - 10:00PMvideocam

Weather

Is Indonesian disaster response failing Sumatra’s flood victims?

Prabowo’s government is ‘busy bragging about its quick reaction’ while deaths mount and people suffer from lack of aid, critics say.

9 Dec 2025 - 6:31PMvideocam

Diplomacy

Video | Indonesia sends home Dutch death row convict

Two Dutch nationals convicted of drug offences returned home after more than a decade in prison a week after Indonesia and the Netherlands signed a repatriation deal.

9 Dec 2025 - 6:19PM

01:18

Environment

Jakarta office building fire kills 22, including pregnant woman

The cause is under investigation, but witnesses reported seeing a battery spark in the testing area of the building belonging to a drone company.

10 Dec 2025 - 5:49PMvideocam

Rescuers work around an office building that caught fire in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Exclusive | Indonesian team aims to get bodies of helpers killed in Hong Kong fire home soon

Filipino envoy in city also says Manila can move ‘quickly’ once Hong Kong has processed the necessary papers for worker killed in blaze.

10 Dec 2025 - 1:03AM

SCMP Highlights

Singaporean Chinese ‘least attractive’, Philippines cyclones: 7 Asia highlights

From a viral image prompting a beauty debate to Chinese marriage brokers eyeing Nepal, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.

9 Dec 2025 - 12:30PM

Pandas

Meet ‘Rio’, the first giant panda cub born in Indonesia

The newborn is stable and showing healthy early signs such as strong vocalisation, effective nursing and steady weight gain.

8 Dec 2025 - 3:52PM

Hu Chun holding her newborn cub. Photo: Taman Safari Indonesia via AP

Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Exclusive | Indonesian helper’s terrifying 3-hour ordeal as fire ravaged Hong Kong estate

Olive says she and her employer’s elderly parents spent an agonising three hours trapped in a smoke-filled bedroom before they were rescued.

7 Dec 2025 - 8:04PMvideocam

Olive and her employer’s parents were rescued at around 6pm on November 26. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Deaths among 13 households still missing in Tai Po fire not ruled out: welfare chief

Households remain uncontactable more than 10 days after Tai Po inferno as government plans to fast‑track smoking ban at construction sites.

7 Dec 2025 - 6:34PM

Sri Lanka

627 dead in Sri Lanka landslides as rains batter South, Southeast Asia

At least 1,812 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

7 Dec 2025 - 7:45PM

Singapore

In race for tourists, Singapore pumps up appeal with push into fitness events

High-octane competitions like Hyrox and the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon are helping drive more visitors to the city state.

7 Dec 2025 - 2:30PM

More than 2,200 international participants took part in the Hyrox race in Singapore on November 30. Photo: Hyrox

Fame and celebrity

OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue arrested in Bali on pornography charges

The 26-year-old British content creator is accused of flouting Indonesia’s ‘morality’ laws.

7 Dec 2025 - 10:08AM

Climate change

Opinion | Fashion industry must tailor climate plans to Asian suppliers’ reality

Efforts to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions in the fashion industry will not work if they rest on a Western design paired with Eastern sacrifice.

7 Dec 2025 - 5:30AM

Vietnam

Indonesia’s flood death toll hits 908, hundreds still missing

The governor of hard-hit Aceh warns starvation has become the gravest threat to survivors in remote villages cut off by the devastation.

6 Dec 2025 - 7:23PMvideocam

An aerial photograph shows extensive flooding in Kuala Simpang, Indonesia’s Aceh province, on Friday following heavy rains. Photo: Reuters

Censorship

Jakarta vs the internet: Indonesia’s gamble with digital freedom

As the government demands global tech firms like Cloudflare bend to its will, critics say it’s ‘burning the rice barn to kill the rats’.

8 Dec 2025 - 10:17AM

Young men play online games and surf the internet at a cyber cafe in Jakarta last month. Photo: AFP

Huawei

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei sees divergence in US and China AI strategies

US focusing on supercomputing power while China is adopting a more practical approach to solve real-world problems, says Ren Zhengfei.

8 Dec 2025 - 9:13AM

Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Hong Kong’s religious communities unite in prayer to mourn Tai Po fire victims

Muslims and other faith groups express solidarity and sorrow for victims of deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court.

5 Dec 2025 - 7:29PM

Extreme weather

Video | ‘Please help us’ appeal from Indonesia flood survivor

Death toll has risen to more than 830 with hundreds still missing in Sumatra.

9 Dec 2025 - 6:28PM

01:04

Hong Kong

Hong Kong fire: dead Indonesian helper found huddled with ward hailed as selfless

Her grieving husband says his wife would have survived had she fled first, as the flat where she worked was on the fourth floor.

5 Dec 2025 - 10:29PM

Indonesian domestic worker Sri Wahyuni had told her husband Sugeng Widodo that she liked her job in Hong Kong. Photo: Sugeng Widodo

Tourism

Bali mulls Airbnb ban to put a lid on revenue leak, overtourism

Airbnbs have emerged as a cheaper alternative to the sprawling resorts that dot the island, eroding tax revenue from hotels.

5 Dec 2025 - 3:41PMvideocam

China exports

Waste to wealth: why China is building incinerators around the world

China’s economic slowdown has left its waste-to-energy sector without enough trash to burn. So, companies are heading overseas.

5 Dec 2025 - 1:55PM

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Indonesia

Mexico lawmakers approve tariff increase on Chinese and other Asian imports

The move, which still requires Senate approval, would affect goods like cars, clothes and steel from China, India, South Korea and elsewhere.

Prabowo’s push to end direct election for Indonesian regional heads stirs debate

.css-rcruog{color:#C79A00;}Video | Mass wedding in Indonesia

Video | Battery explosion suspected in deadly office fire in Jakarta

Witnesses reported seeing a battery spark in the testing area of a drone company on the first floor of the building.

‘She loved us so much’: Indonesian family mourns mother killed in Hong Kong fire

Siti Khotimah was working to fund her children’s education when she died in the Tai Po fire. Her husband wants to see that wish fulfilled.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Opinion | Why the Global South is embracing Chinese AI

The US champions AI as an autonomous agent, a content creator. China exports a vision of AI as a digital nervous system for the real economy.

US says Indonesia backtracking on trade pledges as deal risks falling flat

US official Jamieson Greer will hold talks with Indonesian minister Airlangga Hartarto to salvage the pact signed in July.

‘Could go extinct here’: orangutans at risk as Indonesia floods devastate habitat

Orangutans have disappeared since landslides struck Sipirok in North Sumatra province.

Is Indonesian disaster response failing Sumatra’s flood victims?

Prabowo’s government is ‘busy bragging about its quick reaction’ while deaths mount and people suffer from lack of aid, critics say.

Video | Indonesia sends home Dutch death row convict

Two Dutch nationals convicted of drug offences returned home after more than a decade in prison a week after Indonesia and the Netherlands signed a repatriation deal.

Jakarta office building fire kills 22, including pregnant woman

The cause is under investigation, but witnesses reported seeing a battery spark in the testing area of the building belonging to a drone company.

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Exclusive | Indonesian team aims to get bodies of helpers killed in Hong Kong fire home soon

Filipino envoy in city also says Manila can move ‘quickly’ once Hong Kong has processed the necessary papers for worker killed in blaze.

Singaporean Chinese ‘least attractive’, Philippines cyclones: 7 Asia highlights

From a viral image prompting a beauty debate to Chinese marriage brokers eyeing Nepal, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.

Meet ‘Rio’, the first giant panda cub born in Indonesia

The newborn is stable and showing healthy early signs such as strong vocalisation, effective nursing and steady weight gain.

Exclusive | Indonesian helper’s terrifying 3-hour ordeal as fire ravaged Hong Kong estate

Olive says she and her employer’s elderly parents spent an agonising three hours trapped in a smoke-filled bedroom before they were rescued.

Deaths among 13 households still missing in Tai Po fire not ruled out: welfare chief

Households remain uncontactable more than 10 days after Tai Po inferno as government plans to fast‑track smoking ban at construction sites.

627 dead in Sri Lanka landslides as rains batter South, Southeast Asia

At least 1,812 people have been killed in the natural disasters rolling across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In race for tourists, Singapore pumps up appeal with push into fitness events

High-octane competitions like Hyrox and the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon are helping drive more visitors to the city state.

OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue arrested in Bali on pornography charges

The 26-year-old British content creator is accused of flouting Indonesia’s ‘morality’ laws.

Opinion | Fashion industry must tailor climate plans to Asian suppliers’ reality

Efforts to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions in the fashion industry will not work if they rest on a Western design paired with Eastern sacrifice.

Indonesia’s flood death toll hits 908, hundreds still missing

The governor of hard-hit Aceh warns starvation has become the gravest threat to survivors in remote villages cut off by the devastation.

Jakarta vs the internet: Indonesia’s gamble with digital freedom

As the government demands global tech firms like Cloudflare bend to its will, critics say it’s ‘burning the rice barn to kill the rats’.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei sees divergence in US and China AI strategies

US focusing on supercomputing power while China is adopting a more practical approach to solve real-world problems, says Ren Zhengfei.

Hong Kong’s religious communities unite in prayer to mourn Tai Po fire victims

Muslims and other faith groups express solidarity and sorrow for victims of deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court.

Video | ‘Please help us’ appeal from Indonesia flood survivor

Death toll has risen to more than 830 with hundreds still missing in Sumatra.

Hong Kong fire: dead Indonesian helper found huddled with ward hailed as selfless

Her grieving husband says his wife would have survived had she fled first, as the flat where she worked was on the fourth floor.

Bali mulls Airbnb ban to put a lid on revenue leak, overtourism

Airbnbs have emerged as a cheaper alternative to the sprawling resorts that dot the island, eroding tax revenue from hotels.

Waste to wealth: why China is building incinerators around the world

China’s economic slowdown has left its waste-to-energy sector without enough trash to burn. So, companies are heading overseas.

Video | Mass wedding in Indonesia

Opinion | Why the Global South is embracing Chinese AI

Exclusive | Indonesian team aims to get bodies of helpers killed in Hong Kong fire home soon