Feb 22, 2025 Last Updated 12:16 AM, Feb 21, 2025

Essays

Essay: What remains of the 1998 tragedy for the post-1998 generation

Hearing about my mother's experiences in May 1998 became a pivotal moment that has shaped my life. 

Essay: Local tradition in a global religious community in modern day Java

Ghosts and spirits often come up in conversation but attitudes are changing

Essay: Our Home Together?

Bandung School of Peace is leading the fight against intolerance in West Java

A day in the life of Bali’s miracle worker

Professor Suryani and her team are making a difference

Aging remarkably

A lifelong activist and retired midwife is teaching her peers to stay engaged… and not burden their children

Passing it on

On a recent study trip, journalism student Lisa Favazzo met two people giving back to their communities in extraordinary ways

Essay: Harmony versus hate

Masykuri Bakri doesn’t fit the stereotype for a moderate Muslim leader

Hope in the darkness

A Hazara fleeing persecution has dedicated her life in Indonesia to helping her fellow refugees in Bogor

Essay: ‘Harvard’ and ‘Cambridge’ at your doorstep

Pare’s English language school grew out of a tutoring job and is now attracting thousands

Essay: Redefining Indonesia

Almost twenty years after reformasi, journalist and novelist Leila S. Chudori ponders on the successes and failures of this historic period for Indonesia

A perfect lunch break

Pat Walsh's book of short stories and poems takes us through a year of intimate encounters with Jakarta

A room of one’s own

Mobile libraries and writers clubs reveal a rich reading and writing culture among Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong

A feminist trajectory of literary influences

A writer pays homage to the women writers and intellectuals who paved the way for others

Introduction to Man Tiger: A Novel by Eka Kurniawan

Introduction to Man Tiger: A Novel by Eka Kurniawan

What are your true colours?: A conversation

A brief conversation between strangers provokes thoughts on Australia–Indonesia relations Essays and Fiction is a new series of writing in Inside Indonesia that aims to give voice to more personal stories about Indonesia. We welcome submissions in the form of reflective pieces, fiction, artwork, or essays about travel and fieldwork experiences.

Chinese whispers: The art of reflection

Essays and Fiction is a new series of writing in Inside Indonesia that aims to give voice to more personal stories about Indonesia. We welcome submissions in the form of reflective pieces, fiction, artwork, or essays about travel and fieldwork experiences.

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Single fighters

Feb 13, 2025 - SHERI LYNN GIBBINGS, ELAN LAZUARDI AND ROBBIE PETERS

Why some ride-hailing drivers stay outside mutual aid organisations

Myth, art and science

Feb 13, 2025 - NATASHA DOROSHENKO MURRAY

Indah Arsyad’s Balinese perspective

Esai: Raja-raja hutan

Jan 22, 2025 - JAKA HENDRA BAITTRI

Cara manusia Sumatera menghormatinya harimau

Essay: Kings of the jungle

Jan 22, 2025 - JAKA HENDRA BAITTRI

How Sumatrans honour the tiger, both mystical and real

Sukarno's Indonesia as seen from Yogyakarta

Jan 06, 2025 - MARK WOODWARD

Sukarno's dedication to the arts and obsession with creating a nationalist ideal live on in luxury hotels he built in the 1960s

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Bacaan Bumi: Pemikiran Ekologis – sebuah suplemen Inside Indonesia

Lontar Modern Indonesia

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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.