Workers sort plastic mineral water bottles at a plastics recycling factory in Tangerang, Banten, on Aug. 5, 2022.

May Day in uncertain times: Reclaiming hope through social dialogue

A nation cannot rise if its workers and employers regard each other with suspicion instead of solidarity.

4 months ago

Indonesia should respond to Trump's tariffs with import deregulation

Indonesia needs to implement deregulation not because of pressure from the United States, but to ensure that Indonesia can become a competitive and attractive investment destination. ...

4 months ago

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National Education Day: The state’s commitment to ‘pesantren’

When designed and implemented appropriately, state support to pesantren can be leveraged to promote community well-being and resilience. ...

4 months ago

The Latest

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Digital threats, real consequences: Becoming cyber ready

Alarming statistics highlight the urgent need for robust cybersecurity measures and regulatory frameworks, which the country currently lacks.

4 months ago

Cooperation amid chaos: European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters June 5, 2020, in Brussels.

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The Donald Trump boomerang effect

Instead of wallowing in despair over the fraying security alliance, Europe has fostered an unexpected sense of purpose and unity.

4 months ago

Muslim women greet their Christian colleagues during an interfaith event at the Grand Mosque of Central Java in Semarang, Central Java, on April 10, 2024.

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The fragile promise of pluralism, religious freedom in Southeast Asia

Governments may claim to promote harmony, but their actions often involve policing differences and privileging dominant faiths, leaving minority communities marginalized and vulnerable.

4 months ago

A photograph taken from St. Peter's Basilica shows a general view of late Pope Francis' coffin during the funeral ceremony in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, on April 26, 2025.

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Farewell to the pope who loved the world

Pope Francis' personal net worth at the time of his death was estimated at no more than $100, a powerful testimony to a life of service over accumulation.

4 months ago

Workers produce noodles at a factory in Surabaya, East Java, on Jan. 14, 2023.

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Employed and exhausted, the silent struggle of the working majority

Many individuals find that to secure a higher salary, one that not only covers daily expenses but also allows for savings and improved living standards, they must sacrifice personal time and well-being.

4 months ago

A worker prepares meal packages for the free nutritious meal program on Feb. 12 in the kitchen of an Islamic boarding school in Kudus regency, Central Java.

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The hidden food safety crisis behind the MBG program

Even before the free nutritious meal program was launched, food safety was a persistent issue in Indonesia.

4 months ago

An employee of Hua Seng Heng arranges a tray of gold bracelets on April 9, 2025, at its shop in Chinatown, Bangkok.

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American shakedown, global system shakeup

In trying to reset the global monetary system by using tariffs, the Trump team has inadvertently pushed de-dollarization and the system back toward a gold stardard.

4 months ago

Looking up: Crowds of job seekers attend a job fair on March 7, 2023, in Surabaya, East Java. Data from Statistics Indonesia show that open unemployment in the country was 4.82 percent of the 149.38 million-strong workforce in February 2024, down 0.63 percent compared with the same period last year.

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Indonesia’s demographic bonus and the productivity imperative

The employment structure in Indonesia is imbalanced, with 33.67 percent of workers in part-time jobs and 59.33 percent in the informal sector, often without job security, social protections or access to skill development.

4 months ago

Clear blue: A tourist is surrounded by sharks in Karimun Jawa, Central Java, in this undated file photo.

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The catch in paying fishers to save sharks

Halting overfishing of sharks and rays is difficult because the issue is surrounded by complex social dynamics.

4 months ago

A student sprinkles flowers over a framed portrait of the late Pope Francis on April 22, 2025, at Santa Stanislaus junior high school in Surabaya, East Java.

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The late pope and the path to a just economy

Drawing on the insights he gained during his upbringing and experience in Argentina, Francis advocated for upholding human dignity and togetherness as a means of resolving the moral ills of economic injustice and convened a Jubilee Commission to tackle the deepening global crisis of debt and development.

4 months ago

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Pope Francis on April 26, 2025, during his funeral at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome.

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The blessed legacy of Pope Francis on interreligious ecotheology

Pope Francis has left an impact on ecotheology through his writings and interreligious agreements, which underline the role of religion in lifting human dignity and promoting togetherness as a means to solving the man-made ecological crisis.

4 months ago

Mario Dandy, the defendant in an aggravated assault case against 17-year-old David Ozora, exits the courtroom after the verdict hearing against him at the South Jakarta District Court on Sept. 7, 2023. Judges sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a Rp 25.14 billion restitution for assaulting and inflicting severe injuries against David.

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KUHAP revision: Why courtroom live streams need rules

Regulating the live broadcast of ongoing trial sessions is not equivalent to restricting journalistic work.

4 months ago

Students take the Computer-Based National Examination (UNBK) at the Vocational High School (SMK) 8 Makassar in South Sulawesi on March 16, 2020.

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Retraining the nation, rewriting the future

Without a dramatic expansion of education access and a fundamental reinvention of adult learning, the demographic bonus may become a burden.

4 months ago

Motorcycle deliverymen working for three different online companies, Gojek, Grab and Shopee, wait for the green light at a crossroads in Jakarta on Feb. 10, 2022.

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Harnessing the digital revolution to build safer, healthier workplaces

Digital technologies, from artificial intelligence and robotics to wearable sensors and virtual reality, are revolutionizing workplaces. They hold huge potential to reduce occupational safety and health (OSH) risks and improve working conditions.

4 months ago

Visitors walk past skulls made from resin and graves recreated for an art installation in Jakarta on May 21, 2024, to commemorate 26 years of “reform struggle“ since the May 1998 Indonesia riots, in which hundreds of protesters were killed or disappeared in unrest that brought an end to the rule of former president Soeharto.

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The enduring power of judgement in an uncertain world

The quality of judgement exercised by leaders in a time of crisis will determine whether a nation will survive or succumb to chaos.

4 months ago

Quick, easy, patriotic: A customer scans a QRIS code on Oct. 17, 2024, to pay for a bowl of bakso (meatball soup) in Tangerang, Banten.

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QRIS: A symbol of national sovereignty

The innovative payment method has been pivotal in shaping the country's financial landscape, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding national interests.

4 months ago

Chronic delay: A large number of vehicles are seen stuck in traffic on roads leading to Tanjung Priok Port on April 17 in Jakarta.

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Tanjung Priok’s gridlock shows maritime logistics mismanagement

We are witnessing a symptom of a deep-seated structural crisis in our logistics system, one that remains unresolved.

4 months ago

Slow motion: Artists perform the “Dewi Sekartaji Mask” dance on April 7, 2025 during the Mangkunegaran Performing Arts Festival at the Mangkunegaran Palace in Surakarta, Central Java. Traditional Javanese dance features controlled, deliberate and refined movements that are often slow and meditative.

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Rediscovering Indonesia’s rhythm: A hope for 2045

As Indonesia speeds along its course of pseuo-modernity toward 2045, perhaps it needs to take a "time out" to look back at its epistemic history without the colonial lens and reclaim the rhythm and ethic of timing, restraint and relational appropriateness that once underlined its identity.

4 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) and Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary To Lam inspect the guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony on the day of their meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on March 10.

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Ratifying historic maritime boundary agreement in the South China Sea

The House of Representatives' ratification of a 2022 maritime border agreement would confirm Indonesia and Vietnam's refusal of China's nine-dash line claim.

4 months ago

An official from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) shows confiscated illegal cosmetics at a press briefing in Jakarta on Feb. 21, 2025. Between Feb. 10 and 18, BPOM seized more than 205,000 illegal cosmetics items across the country.

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Indonesia can shape the future of drug safety and access

Indonesia is taking initiative in reshaping traditional regulatory pathways with an innovative model that positions itself as an early participant rather than a late adopter, focusing on selective adaptation of global principles to local realities and leading the paradigm shift to empower emerging economies in influencing global standards alongside development at home.

4 months ago

A worker fries tofu in Cisadap, Ciamis, West Java, on March 7, 2023.

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Accelerating growth through industrialization of rural informal sector

A well-designed and implemented rural industrial policy has the potential to contribute as much as two percentage points to annual GDP growth.

4 months ago

A small river bisects an area in Jakarta, with modern high-rises and a green space on one side and a densely populated neighborhood on the other, in this aerial photograph taken on May 21, 2022.

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Addressing urban challenges by protecting indigenous peoples

If governments have their own people’s interest as a priority, then deliberative practices at the ground level should be seen as the biggest opportunity to manage urban spaces.

4 months ago

A technician runs a bacterial resistance test in a laboratory at Persahabatan Central General Hospital in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, in this undated photo.

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Developing countries can lead in medical innovation

Learning from the vaccine nationalism during the COVID-19 pandemic, South-South cooperation presents a pathway to improving access to therapeutics and diagnostics and to address health challenges and promote medical innovation in the Global South, especially in view of the US' recent withdrawal from the WHO.

4 months ago

Reviving historic vision: Visitors take a selfie in front of Asian and African countries' flags on April 16 at the main hall of the Merdeka Building in Bandung, West Java. The building was the venue for the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference, where 29 Asian and African countries convened in the spirit of anti-colonialism.

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Beyond nostalgia: Bandung Spirit and the fight for human rights today

The Bandung Spirit calls for a more democratic and inclusive interpretation, one shaped by the voices, histories and lived realities of the Global South.

4 months ago

Excavators transfer soil to transport trucks on July 28, 2023, at a nickel mine operated by nickel mining company Vale Indonesia in Sorowako, South Sulawesi.

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New mining royalty structure’s implications for investment

The introduction of higher royalties is a double-edged sword for direct investment.

4 months ago

The EU's Green Deal aims to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create high-paying jobs and ensure that clean air, clean water and healthy food are available as basic human rights.

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Why ASEAN should push for a trade pact with the EU

Under the CBAM, foreign exporters in carbon-intensive sectors, such as steel, cement, aluminum and fertilizer, must purchase carbon certificates that mirror EU carbon pricing.

4 months ago

Proud reminder: Motorists ride in front of the Merdeka Building on April 16 in Bandung, West Java. The building was the venue for the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference, where 29 Asian and African countries convened in the spirit of anti-colonialism.

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The Global South in a shifting world: Challenges, aspirations and the road ahead

The threat against multilateralism is coming not only from the so-called major powers, but also from inward-looking foreign policies of some countries in the Global South.

4 months ago

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