Nov 24, 2024 Last Updated 2:20 AM, Oct 31, 2024

Gangsters

Indonesia’s new anarchists

Indonesia’s new anarchists
Insurrectionary anarchists, with international connections, nihilist values and a penchant for arson, are moving to fill the vacuum on the left

Review: When perpetrators speak

Anwar Congo (right) being made up Final Cut For Real
Joshua Oppenheimer’s groundbreaking new film raises disturbing questions about why perpetrators of the 1965-66 mass killings still enjoy impunity for their actions

An interview with Joshua Oppenheimer

Anwar Congo (right) being made up, Final Cut for Real
The filmmaker explains that The Act of Killing exposes the imagination of terror

Review: An act of manipulation?

Credit: Final Cut for Real
Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing is a bold, disturbing and ultimately unsatisfactory exploration of the place of violence in modern Indonesia

The biggest cock

The biggest cock
In Jakarta’s crowded neighbourhoods, beliefs in supernatural power and invulnerability still surround the figure of the jago tough man

For the good of the people?

For the good of the people?
The challenges of governing ‘societal organisations’ pose difficult questions for Indonesian democracy

Trapped in the legacy of the past

Trapped in the legacy of the past
Conflict between Timorese youth gangs and martial arts groups hark back to the Indonesian occupation

Crime and criminality

Crime and criminality
This edition of Inside Indonesia explores the complex politics of illegality

The rise and fall of a gangster

The rise and fall of a gangster
Ethics and politics don’t mix in the world of Jakarta’s preman

Political gangsters

The riot that engulfed Jakarta on 27 July 1996 started after army-backed gangsters invaded Megawati's PDI headquarters. JESSE RANDALL traces the strange relationship between government and criminality.

Expelled from my home by thugs!

HERTJE SURIPATTY tells how developers used soldiers and thugs to try to force her out.

On the Waterfront

The Military Fleeces and Polices Port Workers

Reformasi gangsters

A coat-of-arms signifying Pemuda Pancasila painted at an ojek stop. (Don Meliton/Flickr)
Preman have had to change in order to stay in business

Latest Articles

Tetangga: These are the stories of our neighbours

Oct 23, 2024 - ASHLYNN HANNAH & SOFIA JAYNE

Introducing a new podcast series

Obit: Adrian Horridge, 1927-2024

Oct 22, 2024 - JEFFREY MELLEFONT

From distinguished neurophysiologist to maritime historian

Book review: The Sun in His Eyes

Oct 07, 2024 - RON WITTON

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

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.