For all its progress, however, Jakarta continues to struggle with the consequences of its rapid urban growth.

As soccer's old guard stumbles against a fierce new wave of global underdogs, the expanding World Cup proves that the gap between the giants and the rest is officially dead.

In the 20 months that he has been in power, the President has not only had to deal with street protests early in his administration, he has also had to face relentless demonstrations that ebbed and flowed depending on how well the public responded to his policies.

Levering his unique background as a democratically elected former general, President Prabowo Subianto is uniquely positioned to break ASEAN's deadlock and rewrite history as Myanmar’s peacemaker.

The acid attack against Andrie Yunus is now at risk of becoming another case of justice eluded, proving yet again that the public has nothing to expect from the justice system.

The agency needs to keep in mind that the most effective way to build lasting trust is through transparency. 

Success shouldn't be measured by headline-grabbing numbers, but by whether free meals actually reach the vulnerable children who need them most.

The newly amended Police Law betrays the spirit of the Reform era, turning the force into a political counterweight rather than a professional protector.

The case of fraudulent presenters at an international research conference exposes glaring vulnerabilities in the country's education system that stem from misplaced and misguided priorities.

A national internship program won't save Indonesia’s stalling demographic bonus unless the government addresses the real crisis: a severe shortage of formal jobs.

By reopening the investigation into Andrie Yunus's acid attack, the National Police have a rare, unmissable chance to tear down a culture of impunity and finally restore their shattered credibility.

If investors are pulling funds out of Indonesian assets, or are reluctant to enter the market even though there is money to be made, what does that say about their confidence in the country’s prospects?

Before we can dream of producing Nobel laureates, we must first rescue an education system where high schoolers can barely pass basic math.

As public scrutiny mounts over President Prabowo’s 51 overseas trips, the administration’s defensive reaction has failed to mask a stark reality: the resulting diplomatic promises have yet to translate into real economic gains.

Fueled by the antek asing (foreign agent) rhetoric, harassment of activists and civil society organizations is sure to persist, if not escalate, in the country.

As the Indonesian Military (TNI) submitted to civilian control in the first two decades of the reform era and scaled down their non-defense roles, the police have only grown in stature and clout.

A plan to task Bank Indonesia with ensuring employment through economic growth comes at a bad time for the central bank.

Indonesia's historic haj services overhaul brings shorter wait times and better safety in the desert, even as old logistical headaches and corruption shadows persist.

Blaming bad weather for an island-wide power outage that left millions in the dark, state electricity monopoly PLN has proved it is quick to collect payments and fine customers but utterly powerless when it comes to accountability.

The idea of centralizing export control for certain natural resources in a single institution is not new, and the failed experiment of such an agency for cloves serves as a case study on why not to pursue that course again, especially for major commodities like coal, CPO and ferroalloys.

The nine Indonesian activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla have returned home from a multinational, civilian-led humanitarian mission that defied Israel's blockade, but their sacrifices mean little without action from world leaders to end Palestinians' plight.

Indonesia’s flashy new fighter jets look impressive, but recent wars prove that expensive planes are useless without a powerful, layered missile defense system to back them up.         

Young Indonesian diaspora now question whether returning home to serve in public institutions is worth the risk if ambitious reforms can later be reframed as criminal acts.

This country is finding itself at a point where policymakers at the central bank and the government need to choose between faster growth or stability, we cannot have it all.

Almost 30 years later, there are still echoes of the past that stir a sense of déjà vu, along with anxiety that everything might once again collapse like a string of dominoes.

As its population graying at an unprecedented rate, Indonesia must pivot from viewing its elderly as a cultural burden to designing proactive policies that transform them into a national asset.

Any impression that rules are enforced selectively or that crackdowns are politically motivated would be extremely detrimental to the country’s investment climate.