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

Politics

Convenient thugs

FPI thrives when mainstream Muslim groups remain silent

High stakes

ASRIANA KEBON speaks to Indonesian underage minors who were returned to Indonesia following age determination hearings in Darwin

‘You’re crazy. Don’t make up things!’

Celebrity gossip shows denigrate homosexuality, but at least they talk about it

They are just Papuans

Recent violence shows the authorities share a disturbing mindset about the residents of Papua

A house for all Muslims?

The United Development Party is determined to survive as a political force

Angels and demons

While a famous ‘reformer’ tries to undermine Indonesia’s local democratic institutions, the predators come to the rescue

Public works and ethnic conflict

Tarakan’s riots illustrate the risks of collusive public contracting and the continued weakness of local security responses

Some people call me Robin Hood

ELISABETH KRAMER speaks to independent anti-corruption activist Arifin Wardiyanto about his ‘extremist’ approach to fighting corruption

Stars and stereotypes

The big business of Indo celebrities creates illusory expectations but things may be changing

Who owns the carbon?

Indonesia’s carbon stores spark international attention

Front stage with the PKS

At its upmarket congress, Indonesia’s biggest Islamic party tried but failed to convince it has become an open and inclusive party

On death row

Dozens of Acehnese drug offenders face the death penalty in Malaysia

Praying across borders

Doctrinal borders that divide traditionalist and modernist Muslims in Banjarmasin are breaking down, but slowly

Supporting syariah, advancing women

The life and work of an Islamic teacher in Aceh shows that the struggle for gender equality is about much more than syariah.

The spirit of Sudirman

A mural competition in Yogyakarta sees Indonesians reinterpreting their revolutionary past in the light of present concerns

Transcending personality politics

The election of Anas Urbaningrum suggests Partai Demokrat can survive without its founder, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Resistance through memory

The victims of the Lapindo mudflow disaster continue to assert their rights to compensation

Stopping the flow

Lapindo Brantas’ involvement in the Surabaya Post has restricted the way journalists report on the mudflow

A terrible legacy

Indonesian doctors have been persecuted for providing safe abortions for almost a century

The triumph of jamu

European interest in Indonesian traditional healing has had its ups and downs, but in Java jamu reigns supreme, as it has for a long, long time

Latest Articles

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

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.