Shoppers wade through ankle-deep floodwaters on Oct. 13, 2025, as a traditional market carries on with trade as usual in Medan Labuhan district, Medan, North Sumatra.

$12b boost won’t fix all

The finance minister's massive liquidity boost, while well-intended, has ultimately failed to read the mood across all economic layers.

10 hours ago

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Prabowo’s APEC charm

As the leader of a prominent middle power, President Prabowo showed that he was also a magnet for international leaders. ...

1 day ago

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Soeharto is no hero

There are a lot of things that can disqualify former New Order strongman Soeharto from being eligible to receive the status of a national hero. ...

2 days ago

The Latest

All smiles: President Prabowo Subianto and the Indonesian men’s soccer team players sing together before their lunch at the head of state’s private residence on Jl. Kertanegara, South Jakarta, on June 6.

Editorial

Achievement vs. popularity

Indonesia still faces a daunting challenge to qualify for the World Cup, and questions arose about whether the team's reward was premature.

4 months ago

People enter the Denpasar Immigration Office building in Bali on Aug. 2, 2024.

Editorial

Love our expats

Our bureaucrats should learn to be less xenophobic in dealing with expatriates.

4 months ago

A screen at the lobby of Cipto Mangunkusumo Central General Hospital (RSCM) in Jakarta shows pictures of the telerobotic surgery to remove cyst from a patient's kidney on Aug. 30, 2024. The lead doctor in the procedure, urological surgeon Ponco Birowo, led the surgery from Denpasar, Bali, while the patient was in the surgical theater in Jakarta.

Editorial

Risky insurance reform

The primary motive behind the regulation is to ensure the financial sustainability of health insurers, who are struggling with rising claims amid soaring medical cost.

4 months ago

Deforestation devastates an area on Gag Island in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua province, in this aerial handout picture taken on December 22, 2024 and released on January 31.

Editorial

Mining and tourism don’t mix

Someone issued licenses for mining in a prime tourism region. What were they thinking?

4 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto raises his fist while addressing his cabinet members during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on May 5.

Editorial

President Prabowo's communication style, while a key part of his nationalist branding, reflects populism, which tends to divide society between "the people" and "others", who are often framed as a common enemy threatening the nation.

4 months ago

A volunteer weighs a children on a scale at an integrated health post (Posyandu) in Ciamis regency, West Java, on Jan. 16, 2024. The government allocates Rp 187.5 trillion in the 2024 state budget for stunting prevention.

Editorial

Stunting policy gets stunted

More than half of the targeted 82 million children probably do not need free meals at school and would not appreciate it as much since they get better and more nutritious food at home.

4 months ago

A worker of the hospitality industry carries a mock coffin outside a closed bar during a protest against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown regulations and job losses in Cape Town, South Africa, August 6, 2020.

Editorial

Ailing hospitality industry

People are unlikely to plan vacations when the economy is weak and the administration fails to create jobs, the primary driver of spending power and disposable income.

4 months ago

United States President Donald Trump delivers remarks on March 11 at the Business Roundtable's quarterly meeting at the Business Roundtable headquarters in Washington, DC.

Editorial

Economic gunboat diplomacy

We must avoid premature concessions, because the US trade policy remains in flux, with legal challenges ongoing.

4 months ago

South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung (center) and his wife Kim Hye-kyung (right) leave on Wednesday after the inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul.

Editorial

Prabowo’s S. Korean approach

The bilateral ties between Asia’s fourth and fifth-largest economies are too significant to fail.

4 months ago

Muslim worshippers gather for prayers at the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca on June 2, ahead of the annual haj.

Editorial

Don’t neglect our pilgrims

The government cannot remain silent when citizens are facing hardships in their bid to fulfil their religious obligation.

4 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto attends the plenary session at the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on May 26.

Editorial

Whither ASEAN community?

This year, ASEAN still barely resembles a community in its true sense of the word as its leaders have come up with a new vision for 2045 with even more audacious targets.

5 months ago

Civil service recruits burn tires during a demonstration in the front yard of the Southeast Sulawesi Legislative Council in Kendari on March 10, 2025, to protest the government’s decision to delay their inauguration.

Editorial

Older, slower bureaucracy

Now is not the time to think about raising the civil service retirement age, lest we lose out on the coming demographic bonus and thereby miss our Golden Indonesia 2045 goal of becoming a high-income economy and advanced society by our centennial.

5 months ago

Then-defense minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) speaks with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape during their meeting on Aug. 21, 2024 in Port Moresby.

Editorial

Prabowo’s PNG ambition

Prabowo believes that as a full member state, PNG will strengthen ASEAN in facing geopolitical challenges.

5 months ago

Floating power: This aerial photo shows the newly built floating solar power plant that can generate 192 megawatts (MW) of peak electricity in cooperation between the Indonesian government and state-owned renewable energy company Masdar of the United Arab Emirates, at the Cirata Reservoir, West Java.

Editorial

Same plan, new excuses

The long-waited, and so-called “green”, long-term electricity business plan (RUPTL) is here, but it is not what we were hoping for.

5 months ago

Modern moves: Residents pass through the Blok M Hub transit oriented development (TOD) area inaugurated on May 24 by Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung.

Editorial

Looking beyond South Jakarta

While continued development of Blok M will undoubtedly enhance the area’s appeal, Governor Pramono must look beyond South Jakarta if he wants Jakarta to become a “global city” that’s on par with urban giants like Singapore, New York, London and Tokyo.

5 months ago

French President Emmanuel Macron (left) talks to President Prabowo Subianto on May 28, 2025, during a press conference at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

Editorial

RI, France aim for centennial

To be more widely welcomed in the Indo-Pacific, France should focus on acting as a local power rather than a foreign power dictating terms to countries in the region.

5 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto and Chinese Premier Li Qiang inspect a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on May 25, 2025.

Editorial

Deepening Sino-Indonesia ties

Relations with China cannot be pinned solely on strong economic cooperation as some issues remain, including the skirmishes in the South China Sea, and the flooding of Chinese goods into our markets.

5 months ago

Tangerang Police formed a task force to combat begal (violent robbers) and thugs to safeguard the area ahead of the 2018 Asian Games

Editorial

Tough on hoodlums

From directing traffic to looking for parking spots, these preman, derived from the Dutch word vrijeman, are all eager to lend a hand, in exchange for petty cash or loose change in your glove compartment.

5 months ago

A man uses his phone while waiting for customers at a clothing shop in Tanah Abang Market in Jakarta on March 6.

Editorial

Are we in a crisis?

What we have now is a grim new reality, whether one attributes that to domestic politics, the global economy or changing technology. Unlike the pandemic, there is no end in sight.

5 months ago

Several classrooms of SLB A Pajajaran in Bandung, West Java, are partially demolished to make way for the Sekolah Rakyat program on May 16, 2025.

Editorial

Why another school system?

Many public schools suffer from poor infrastructure, buildings that are outdated or even dilapidated, and lack adequate educational resources.

5 months ago

Army personnel march during celebrations to mark the 78th anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Oct. 5, 2023.

Editorial

From muscle to might

The AGO-TNI arrangement is seen as a dangerous erosion of the democratic principle of civilian supremacy.

5 months ago

Students observe a diorama in the National Awakening Museum in Central Jakarta on May 19, 2018. The country commemorates National Awakening Day on May 20 to mark the founding of the first organization championing Indonesian independence in 1908.

Editorial

Questioning historical revision

Critics suspect the project aims to glorify the incumbent government and will serve as "official history" in textbooks across all educational levels, at least for Prabowo's five-year term.

5 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto gestures while addressing cabinet members during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on May 5. In the meeting, Prabowo asserted his authority amid perceptions of growing influence of former president Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo.

Editorial

Democracy, 27 years later

The shadow of Soeharto's past now seems to loom over the nation, threatening the civilian supremacy we fought so hard to establish.

5 months ago

An officer from the West Java Police collects antemortem data and DNA samples from families of victims of a blast during the disposal of expired military ammunition, at the Pameungpeuk Hospital in Garut, West Java, on May 12.

Editorial

TNI professionalism matters

The TNI has claimed compliance with standard operating procedure, but the presence of civilians at such a dangerous zone shows otherwise.

5 months ago

A mural by Berlin-based graffitti artist Eme Freethinker of United States President Donald Trump and lettering reading 'Made in China' is pictured on a wall at the Mauerpark public park in Berlin on April 26.

Editorial

Sigh of relief, for now

While the Geneva agreement brings hope, it does not undo all the damage. Our global trade will never be what it used to be.

5 months ago

Soccer fans watch on a large screen the live broadcast of the pre-Olympic playoff match between Indonesia and Guinea for a final spot in the men's Olympic soccer tournament in Paris, outside the Gelora Bung Karno stadium on May 9, 2024, in Jakarta.

Editorial

Show red cards for bad fans

Indonesian soccer fans’ behavior is a hindrance to the nation’s aspirations to see Indonesia become a great soccer nation.

5 months ago

A police officer is seen at his post on Feb. 4 in front of the Constitutional Court building in Jakarta.

Editorial

Satire is protected speech

Both the President and former president are part of the country’s political institutions which should not be shielded from criticism, including satire.

5 months ago

Police officers stand at formation during a roll call on May 9 in preparation for a two-week operation to curb thuggery and street brawls across Jakarta that will last until May 23.

Editorial

The hidden tariff

Other countries have tackled racketeering through a combination of targeted asset seizures, witness protection, whistleblower incentives and cross-agency coordination.

5 months ago

Haj pilgrims walk to the departure terminal at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on May 1, 2025, ahead of their flights to Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Editorial

Look inward for haj fixes

Instead of looking to the Saudis for more sweeteners, the government must sort out all the recurring domestic problems that have marred the organization of the haj in the past.

5 months ago

Bill Gates (second left) and President Prabowo Subianto (right) view meal boxes during their visit to a school to inspect the free nutritious meals program in Jakarta on May 7.

Editorial

Q1 GDP? Don’t look back!

The pessimistic scenario is that the first quarter was bad but that things will only get harder from now on, given the uncertainty ahead. The optimistic view is that, while global factors are largely out of our control, there are steps we can take at home to prepare our country.

5 months ago

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