Retirement savings are meant to provide financial security in old age. Yet Indonesia's renewed debate over the Old-Age Savings (JHT) program has focused largely on tax rates and thresholds, overlooking a more fundamental question: Should the state tax retirement savings at all? In a country where fewer than half of workers participate in the formal social security system, the issue goes beyond taxation to retirement security itself.

The press exists to fulfill the wholly democratic role of providing checks and balances.

Southeast Asia’s nuclear push locks countries into long-term strategic alignments, reshaping regional autonomy as major powers compete for influence.

Provinces know their own resources, their needs and their communities in ways no minister in Jakarta can. 

Large-scale food fortification is one of the most effective, affordable and evidence-based strategies to address micronutrient deficiencies. 

When a country crosses the World Bank’s threshold from low- to middle-income status, it is deemed too rich to qualify for aid, even though it is not yet rich enough to cover its health costs.

Treating Jakarta's entry into China's onshore debt market as a routine fiscal transaction misses the deeper structural evolution underway in Southeast Asia. 

Concluding a South China Sea Code of Conduct simply to meet a deadline would be a serious mistake. A weak, vague agreement could be worse than no agreement at all.

Indonesia is preparing to introduce E20, a gasoline blend containing 20 percent fuel ethanol, even as it continues to import sugar to meet domestic food demand. The initiative seeks to replicate the success of the country's biodiesel mandate by reducing reliance on imported gasoline while creating new demand for domestic agricultural commodities.

Prabowo needs to restore BI’s leadership to a technocrat who can reassure markets and investors that the central bank’s independence remains intact.

Changes that took millions of years can now happen in a matter of decades, and this accelerated rythm can be destructive, with dangerous consequences for the planet.

The government's push for establishment of 80,000 village cooperatives will only succeed if top-down state ambition gives way to genuine, bottom-up member control.

Recent US behavior, acting as if the ICC can be trusted against an enemy, but never against a friend, ignores that the Rome Statute rests on complementarity.

Democracy does not require citizens to think alike. But it requires something more fundamental: disagreement cannot become a justification for denying equal citizenship.

Genuine freedom requires order under law and that order must begin with the powerful

Earlier this month a coalition of academics, activists and professionals did something no civil society group in the country's post-authoritarian history has attempted: they appointed their own cabinet.

With the fear of being judged, especially by your closest families and friends, AI chatbots emerge to fill those gaps felt by most Indonesians who are struggling to march on with their lives.

After surging to a four-year high of US$3,787.50 per tonne in early June, London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month aluminum is now trading around $3,170 per tonne, which is exactly where it was before the United States unleashed its "Operation Epic Fury".

When faced with imperfect political options, Negeri Sembilan voters must choose steady reform over high-stakes experimentation, because a vote cast in frustration shouldn't gamble away the nation's stability.

From election debates to AI‑manipulated content, audiences in both countries rely on legacy media for credibility during high-stakes moments while increasingly consuming politics through fast, visual and creator-driven formats.

Free speech in Indonesia faces a growing threat as social media surveillance intensifies and doxing becomes normalized, whether by paid "buzzers", automated bots or establishment sympathizers.

Behind every discounted ride is a hidden algorithmic fee, leaving Indonesia’s gig workers stripped of basic earnings while regulations turn a blind eye.

Despite record investment, investors, executives and corporate boards are growing increasingly skeptical that AI will deliver significant productivity gains anytime soon.

By reviving colonial-era slurs to target press critics, President Prabowo Subianto imports a dangerous authoritarian logic that trades democratic accountability for loyalty tests.

Markets were not pricing the departure of one individual, but they were reassessing something far more valuable: the institutional reputation of BI.

Indonesia's import of Russian crude oil, marked by the arrival of Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean (ESPO) crude at Lawe-Lawe Port in East Kalimantan on June 28, signals a significant shift in the country's energy sourcing strategy. But the move also raises questions over whether state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina could be perceived as circumventing Western sanctions on Russia, a risk the government appears largely unfazed by.

The AI trade may have room to run, but as it grows more crowded, investors are looking for true diversifiers, and several options are hiding in plain sight.