Poverty

People in rural Papua are more interested in basic services than grand political struggles

Pocket money given to intending migrant domestic workers comes at a price

Architect Antonio Ismael Risianto promotes planning for the urban poor

The state’s requirements for marriage registration disadvantage poor rural women

Private sector participation in Jakarta’s water supply has left many citizens high and dry

Photo-essay: some of Jakarta’s poorest inhabitants find both suffering and happiness on the banks of its main river

Displaced East Timorese children go hungry in Indonesian West Timor

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.

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.

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.

While others hope environmentally sensitive tourism will help the Togian Islands, KATE NAPTHALI wants to beef up traditional industries instead.

Impoverished villagers kill huge numbers of migrating birds resting on Java's foreshores each year. JOHN McCARTHY reports

SIMON ANDREWARTHA discovers a quiet invasion by outsiders, even in the remotest villages.

CHRIS MANNING explains why the workers suffer but cannot protest.

A weak government struggles with 'people power', poverty and pulp companies

The poor must come first

Lea Jellinek

Surviving thirty years in Central Jakarta

Four years later, how has the economic crisis affected the poor?