Protesters carry posters reading “Rigged government posts on top, rigged school admissions on the bottom" on July 7, 2024, to protest against corruption and illegal levies on school enrollment, during Car Free Day (CFD) in Jakarta.

Corruptive culture

The neglect of teachers' welfare by the state creates an environment in which unethical practices become not just an option, but, in some cases, a survival mechanism.

17 hours ago

Editorial

Comprehensive, strategic ties with China

Indonesia could nudge China to stop dragging its feet in concluding negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, something that ASEAN has been pushing for from Beijing for over two decades. ...

2 days ago

Editorial

Keep rotten doctors away

The West Java cases also put a spotlight on what experts call structural and psychological gaps in the safety and protection of women. ...

3 days ago

The Latest

Building BRICS: Government officials attend a plenary session in the outreach/BRICS Plus format at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2024.

Editorial

Playing with BRICS fire

Prabowo believes his government can reap economic benefits from BRICS, although the international community perceives it as a group driven by political, rather than economic interests.

3 months ago

Staff prepare meals to deliver to a school at a kitchen on the first day of a free-meal programme in Jakarta on Monday, January 6, 2025. Indonesia launched an ambitious USD 4.3 billion free-meal programme on January 6 to combat stunted growth due to malnutrition, a key election promise of President Prabowo Subianto.

Editorial

Free, nutritious, safe meals

Regular and thorough inspections of the whole process, from the procurement of ingredients to food distribution, are imperative.

3 months ago

Harvey Moeis, a convict in a corruption case, leaves the courtroom after the reading of his sentence at the Jakarta Corruption Court in Jakarta on Dec. 23, 2024. The court sentenced Harvey to 6.5 years behind bars, a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$61,674) or six months in jail and restitution of Rp 210 billion.

Editorial

Getting off lightly

The sentences hardly reflected a sense of justice and contradicted the national consensus that deems corruption an extraordinary crime due to its far-reaching impact on society.

3 months ago

Foreign Minister Sugiono smiles before his inauguration at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 21, 2024.

Editorial

Sugiono's direction

We call on the minister to clarify a few controversial decisions and incidents involving the President.

3 months ago

Every vote counts: A woman casts her ballot for the presidential and legislative elections at a polling station in Banda Aceh, on Feb. 14, 2024.

Editorial

Trashing the threshold

The promise of better governance and democratic consolidation expected from implementing the presidential threshold has barely been fulfilled.

3 months ago

The venue of a canceled art exhibition of painter Yos Suprapto is seen empty on Dec. 20, 2024, at the National Galley in Jakarta. The exhibition was canceled by the National Gallery on its opening day on Dec. 19, 2024.

Editorial

Authoritarian alarm

The cancellation of the exhibition of the work of Yogyakarta-based artist Yos Suprapto marked another setback for freedom of expression in the country.

3 months ago

Firefighters and recovery team members work at the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Dec. 30, 2024.

Editorial

High-flying reflections

Airlines must adopt a proactive approach centered on transparency, accountability and continuous improvement.

4 months ago

Riot police stand guard as students protest against the government's decision to increase the value-added tax (VAT) from 11 percent to 12 percent, effective from the beginning of 2025, in Jakarta on Dec. 26, 2024.

Editorial

Cautiously optimistic

Talk of possible vote-rigging, election meddling and electioneering in the lead-up to the February presidential and legislative elections raised the stakes and sparked real fears that things could go sideways after the votes were tallied.

4 months ago

An employee inspects on Aug. 7 a machine at a lithium-ion battery and nano-carbon materials plant owned by PT BTR New Energy Material in the Kendal Special Economic Zone in Central Java.

Editorial

Just getting started

We cannot afford to let more time slip through our fingers, for the sake of the nation and the promise it holds.

4 months ago

Hard-won democracy: President Prabowo Subianto shows ballot papers while voting in the simultaneous regional election in Bogor, West Java, on Nov. 27.

Editorial

Betrayal of ‘Reformasi’

Sadly, we note that the spirit of Reformasi is waning not only in our political body, but also in the judiciary.

4 months ago

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Hasto Kristiyanto (left) holds a meeting with then Surakarta mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka (right) in Jakarta on May 22, 2023.

Editorial

Ghost of past administration

As a new president who was still working to consolidate his power, Prabowo certainly did not want to alienate the PDI-P, currently the biggest political party in the House of Representatives.

4 months ago

A man decorates a Christmas tree with flip-flops at the Santa Perawan Maria Bunda Christ Catholic Church ahead of the Christmas festival celebrations in Java, Central Java, on Dec. 20, 2024.

Editorial

Christmas good news

The picture is not always gloomy, although we may need to make extra efforts to see the encouraging developments.

4 months ago

High-ranking officials brief the press about the new economic stimulus package intended to cushion the impact of an impending value-added tax (VAT) hike to 12 percent at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister in Jakarta on Dec. 16, 2024.

Editorial

VAT hike with cashback

There is no shame in VAT hike, yet our government appears to be embarrassed by its own decision.

4 months ago

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol bows on Dec. 14, 2024, during a public address from his official residence in Seoul in this handout photo issued by the South Korean Presidential Office via Yonhap.

Editorial

Lessons from Korea

Our political culture often permits leaders to evade accountability.

4 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto arrives at the government palace to meet with Peru's President Dina Boluarte, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Lima on Nov. 14.

Editorial

Merciful Prabowo

Barely two months into office, President Prabowo has surprised the nation with his plan to give pardon to 44,000 inmates across the nation.

4 months ago

Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (center) and ASEAN leaders take part in the 44th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Oct. 9, 2024.

Editorial

Are we abandoning ASEAN?

This is the second time since Prabowo’s inauguration that Indonesia has sent a concerning message to its regional neighbors.

4 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (front, third left) attends a warm-up session during a retreat with members of his Red and White Cabinet at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, on Oct. 25, 2024. (-/Prabowo’s Media Team/Handout via Reuters)

Editorial

Prevention is better than cure

It’s better to prevent a public trust crisis than to patch one up afterward.

4 months ago

An aerial view of a subsidized housing complex in Puuwatu district in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Aug. 1, 2024.

Editorial

Broken housing policy

The government should understand it has never been about the number and simply tripling the annual new housing target is not going to cut it.

4 months ago

A stock illustration of prescribed injected ketamine.

Editorial

Solutions to ketamine problem

If the government decides to categorize it as a psychotropic, it should prioritize tightening the distribution rather than punishing users.

4 months ago

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia waves before the Twilight Parade at Pancasila Field, Military Academy, Magelang, Central Java, on Oct. 25, 2024.

Editorial

Serious about nuclear

Nuclear may be worth pursuing at this point, not as a panacea, but to support our energy transition as a baseload power source.

4 months ago

Syrians living in Turkey celebrate after Syrian rebels announced that they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 8, 2024.

Editorial

Mission to Syria

Democracy is Indonesia’s most substantial offer.

4 months ago

Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Pramono Anung (left) talks to his running mate Rano Karno during a press briefing in Cipete, South Jakarta, on Nov. 28, 2024.

Regional Elections

Narrow margin

Dragging the election through to January would certainly look like a misguided political strategy.

4 months ago

Tax assistance: An official (left) explains to a taxpayer the use of her citizenship identity number as the taxpayer identification number at Palangkaraya tax office in Central Kalimantan, on March 3.

Editorial

Focus on revenue reform

We fail to understand how a new revenue agency or ministry would do anything better.

4 months ago

Democracy in action: Protesters take part in a candlelight rally calling for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the steps of the National Assembly in Seoul, on Dec. 5.

Editorial

K-drama worth watching

Democracy survived because the Korean people willed it and fought for it.

4 months ago

Women’s rights activists hold a banner reading “Eradicate sexual violence? There must be a way!” during a protest outside the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta on Feb. 10, 2020, against sexual harassment and violence against women on campuses.

Editorial

Women’s protection crisis

Often, when victims of gender-based violence seek help from the police, they are faced with resistance, convoluted procedures or, even worse, accusations that they brought the crimes upon themselves because of the way they dressed or behaved.

4 months ago

Foreign Minister Sugiono smiles on Oct. 21, 2024, before his inauguration at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

Editorial

Give the new FM time

The public should allow Sugiono to prove that the President made the right decision in appointing him despite his lack of experience in foreign affairs.

4 months ago

Protesters demonstrate in front of the Central Java Police headquarters in Semarang on Nov. 28, 2024.

Editorial

Policing the police

Recent acts of brutality have hardened disturbing doubts about the accountability of the police and their ability to resolve their own problems, including their excessive use of lethal force.

4 months ago