The Jakarta Post

‘Rangga & Cinta’ highlights Indonesian presence at Rotterdam film festival

Premiering in Europe at IFFR 2026, the musical remake of the defining coming-of-age classic highlights the increasingly confident presence of Indonesian movies on the international festival circuit. ...

8 months ago

The Latest

'Mo.nu.men.tal' (2026) by Mujahidin Nurrahman, hand-cut paper, glue, plywood, acrylic sheet, 112 x 88 x 16 cm

Art & Culture premium

Art Jakarta Papers reframes a familiar medium

Bringing focus to artworks made on and of paper, the exhibition reveals how artists continue to push the expressive limits of the humble, age-old material in an increasingly digital world.

8 months ago

Virtual relaxation: Students play the online game Roblox on Sept. 24, 2025, during the Edublox extracurricular activity at Solo Technopark in Surakarta, Central Java. The United States National Institutes of Health suggest that long hours spent on screens may affect development of the prefrontal cortex in children and adolescents.

Parenting premium

Parenting teenagers: Choosing connection over correction

Why today’s adolescent conflicts feel sharper and how parents can respond without losing trust.

8 months ago

'Je Me Vois’ by Teresia A. Sitompul, afdruk emulsion on nylon screen and oil pastel

Art & Culture premium

Then and Now: Revelations after two decades

An exhibition in Jakarta reunites 11 artists first championed in the late 2000s, tracing how their ideas, materials and methods have evolved amid shifting cultural and technological landscapes.

8 months ago

Bad Bunny accepts the award for Album of the Year for “Debi Tirar Mas Fotos“ during the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 1, 2026.

Entertainment

Bad Bunny makes Grammys history with Album of the Year win

The night belonged to Bad Bunny, who earned cheers as he delivered a powerful political message, ripping the nationwide immigration raids that have polarized America.

8 months ago

A developing galaxy cluster dating to about 1 billion years after the Big Bang is shown in this handout image released on Jan. 28, 2026. The white box marks the field of view of the Chandra X-ray Observatory data (blue) that is overlaid on an infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope showing the location of galaxies.

Galaxy cluster observed forming surprisingly early in universe's history

Observations show an emerging galaxy cluster containing at least 66 potential member galaxies, with a total cluster mass of about 20 trillion stars the size of our sun, dating to about one billion years after the Big Bang event that initiated the universe roughly 13.8 billion years ago.

8 months ago

Canadian actress Catherine O'Hara poses as she arrives at the 24th Critics Choice Awards at Santa Monica, California, the United States on Jan. 13, 2019.

Entertainment

Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' dead at 71

The BBC, citing a statement from Creative Artists Agency, reported she died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness.

8 months ago

A passenger is checked with a thermal imager at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten on Jan. 30, 2026, following the implementation of health screening for arriving passengers, after India confirmed two cases of the deadly Nipah virus.

Nipah airport screenings not scientific step to stop spread: Experts

Nipah spreads mainly through products contaminated by infected bats, such as fruit, and can be fatal in up to 75 percent of cases, but it does not spread easily between people.

8 months ago

'The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World' by Antony Loewenstein.

Books premium

From Roy to Loewenstein: Books as witnesses to memory and power

Across personal memory, cultural history and global conflict, several books published in 2025 continue to illuminate how power shapes lives and narratives.

8 months ago

Veteran actress Yessy Gusman (second left) speaks to the press about the musical 'Bukan Cinta Galih/Ratna’ on Jan. 8, 2026, in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. She was joined by 18-year-old director Mikail Edwin Rizki (left), composer Guruh Soekarnoputra (second right) and producer Yessi Haryanda (right).

Iconic Indonesian romance returns as musical in ‘Bukan Cinta Galih/Ratna’

A stage adaptation of the cult 1979 romance Gita Cinta dari SMA blends nostalgia with Gen Z humor, as a new generation retells the story of Galih and Ratna for today’s audiences.

8 months ago

This photo taken on January 12, 2026 shows the crew of the OceanXplorer, a research vessel operated by the marine non-profit OceanX, coordinating safety protocols with a submersible pilot before a deep-sea operations in the waters off Sulawesi island.

'So little we know': In submersibles revealing the deep sea

The OceanXplorer ship boasts labs for genetic sequencing, a helicopter for aerial surveys and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and two submersibles capable to uncover the improbable life found in some of the harshest conditions on Earth.

8 months ago

Dream team: Key figures behind the Perahu Kertas musical, including Trinity Entertainment Network CEO Yonathan Nugroho (left), Indonesia Kaya manager Billy Gamaliel (second left), novelist Dewi Lestari (third left), producers Eunike Elisaveta (third right) and Chriskevin Adefrid, pose after a press conference at Galeri Indonesia Kaya in Central Jakarta on Nov. 18, 2025.

‘Perahu Kertas’: Sailing dreams from page to stage

A beloved coming-of-age novel by Dewi Lestari finds new expression as a stage musical, bringing Kugy and Keenan’s dreams to life for a new generation.

8 months ago

After-hours rush: Traffic continues well into the night on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, one of Jakarta’s busiest thoroughfares, pictured during the evening peak on Dec. 11, 2025.

Living with the strain: Why Jakarta is still home

As Indonesia’s largest urban region grows into the world’s most populous, residents balance hardship and hope in a city that remains the country’s strongest economic magnet.

8 months ago

The cover art for 'Reflections: Singapore’s Place in the World' (2024) by Barry Desker, published by Strait Times Press

Books premium

‘Reflections’: A meditation on Singapore’s regional resilience

Through his collection of essays, author and professor Barry Desker shows how technocratic governance and quiet diplomacy have sustained the island state’s resilience and its enduring, often overlooked ties with Indonesia.

9 months ago

Fingertip balance: Adel, 11, an Indosalto participant, practices a backbend supported by her index fingers during an acrobatics training session on Jan. 15, 2026, in a narrow alley on Jl. Pluit Dalam III, Penjaringan, North Jakarta.

Indosalto: Urban acrobatics leaping into Jakarta’s narrow spaces

In a dense North Jakarta neighborhood where room to move is scarce, a small acrobatics community is carving out space for children to leap, flip and imagine bigger futures.

9 months ago

This photograph taken on January 6, 2026 shows Indian author Amitav Ghosh speaking during an interview with AFP amidst a promotional tour for his novel 'Ghost-Eye' in New Delhi.

Books

As world burns, Amitav Ghosh writes for the future

But his recent work focuses on what he considers the most urgent concern: the accelerating unravelling of the natural world and the moral legacy left for the future.

9 months ago

Unearthing origins: An ape-like skullcap discovered by Dutch geologist Eugène Dubois at Trinil in 1891 is displayed on Dec. 17, 2025, at the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta. The fossil is part of the permanent Early History exhibition introducing early human discoveries in Indonesia.

Art & Culture premium

Home at last: ‘Java Man’ fossils anchor new National Museum exhibit

The return of the Dubois Collection from the Netherlands places Indonesia at the heart of human evolution studies, opening new ground for research and public education.

9 months ago

Back to the wild: A male Javan hawk-eagle named Raja Dirgantara is being released on Dec. 13, 2025, at Situgunung in Mt. Gede Pangrango National Park, Sukabumi, West Java.

Science & Tech premium

Javan hawk-eagle under pressure as forests disappear

Scientists warn that shrinking habitat is pushing Indonesia’s iconic raptor closer to extinction.

9 months ago

In this file photo taken on March 07, 2011 this NASA handout image shows a close-up view of the International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-133 crew member on space shuttle Discovery after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation.

NASA says targeting ISS medical evacuation for January 14

Details of the medical evacuation, the first in ISS history, were not provided by officials, though they said it did not result from any kind of injury onboard and that the unidentified crewmember is stable and not in need of an emergency evacuation.

9 months ago

Actors from the Agak Laen movie franchise, (from left) Boris Bokir, Bene Dion, Indra Jegel and Oki Rengga, take part in a charity drive on Dec. 14, 2025, in support of flood victims from northern Sumatra, near the Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta.

Comedy sequel ‘Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku!’ sets new box-office record

The comedy sequel has drawn more than 10.5 million viewers in just 38 days, overtaking major local hits and setting a new benchmark for Indonesian cinema.

9 months ago

Taste session: Chef and certified sommelier Kaskara Hasibuan holds a wine glass while sitting down in this undated picture.

Food premium

Beyond the plate: An Indonesian chef-sommelier’s culinary vision

Kaskara Hasibuan reflects on his international career, his pop-up platform Comocasa, and how global training has shaped his approach to cooking and wine.

9 months ago

Ritual in craft: A look from Séance, Adrian Gan’s 2026 collection, crafted using vintage embroideries and archival textiles dating back to the late 19th century.

Fashion 2026: Dressing in a world of uncertainty

Archival textiles, gender-fluid utility and disciplined craft shape how Indonesian designers respond to uncertainty and change.

9 months ago

Urban farming reimagined: Chicken Hero Pavilion, a self-initiated project by RAD+ar, rises as a hilly structure in Urban Forest, South Jakarta, exploring backyard poultry farming as a design response to food waste and urban resilience.

Beyond tropical: How Indonesian design is evolving today

Today’s practitioners are responding to a shifting design discourse, shaped by a fast-moving industry, environmental urgency and new ways audiences encounter design and space.

9 months ago

A woman accompanies her son to fill in an online registration form
outside State High School 70, South Jakarta, on June 13, 2023, the first day of enrolment in elementary schools, junior high schools and senior high schools.

Parenting

Family financial planning essential to maintaining lifestyle, growing wealth

A global insurance and financial planning company advises families to plan ahead in 2026 with strategies to ensure that their household and lifestyles are secure when the unexpected takes place.

9 months ago

Notable contributor: Balinese secretary I Made Kaler (second right) assists American anthropologist Margaret Mead (right) interview Nang Karma (left) and his son I Gata in Bayung Gede village, Kintamani, Bali, in this photo taken circa 1937 by Mead's husband, Gregory Bateson.

Science & Tech premium

From Ali to Kadek: The oft-overlooked role of local science collaborators

The contributions of the local people who worked behind the scenes, serving as secretaries, interpreters and guides, are frequently a mere footnote in the works of the Western researchers they assisted, or are missing altogether from historical records.

9 months ago

This handout picture taken with a camera trap and released on Dec. 26, 2025, by Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand shows a recently rediscovered flat-headed cat in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary. An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered, nearly three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities said on Dec. 26, 2025.

Environment

Elusive wild cat feared extinct rediscovered in Thailand

Flat-headed cats are among the world's rarest and most threatened wild felines which range is limited to Southeast Asia and they are endangered because of dwindling habitat.

9 months ago

Perry Bamonte of The Cure performs at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre on May 20, 2023 in Chula Vista, California, the United States. The Cure guitarist and keyboard player Bamonte has died aged 65, the legendary British dark rock band announced on Dec. 26, 2025.

Entertainment

The Cure guitarist and keyboard player Perry Bamonte dies aged 65

Bamonte was initially part of The Cure's roadcrew from 1984 before enjoying two stints as a musical member, playing guitar, six string bass and keyboard.

9 months ago

Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) launch vehicle LVM3-M6 carrying the United States' next-generation BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite of AST SpaceMobile lifts off from the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota in India's Andhra Pradesh state on Dec. 24, 2025.