Our concern is how the government ensures that it will not be trapped into subsidizing unproductive firms and that taxpayer money will reach the targeted beneficiaries all across the country.

The KPK must now present incriminating evidence to the Corruption Court for it to find Nurhadi guilty of accepting bribes. But the antigraft body must not stop at this case, which is, perhaps, only the tip of the country’s judicial corruption iceberg.

Southeast Asian leaders will meet virtually on Friday for the 36th ASEAN Summit, nearly two months after it was postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.

When the capital relocation plan materializes, Jakarta will continue to thrive and remain a city of dreams for many, from artists to engineers. The resilience the city has displayed in nearly 500 years of its history will help it survive another 500 years.

For one thing, the controversy surrounding the Pancasila Ideology Guidelines (HIP) bill shows yet again the tendency of our politicians to devise national policies without public consultation. But more than that, the bill is a grim reminder of the authoritarian past, when the state dictated what was right or wrong.

The “new normal” should therefore never erase the idea that the virus is everywhere and remains a threat to our lives. Children are at risk as well, even though studies have found age increases the possibility of getting infected.

Nothing is wrong with such a high threshold, as many developed democracies adopt it to strengthen their parliaments. 

The abrupt halt to most commercial activities in the country since the middle of March has imposed economic pains so profound and enduring that recovery could take one to two years, depending on the availability of a vaccine.

In aviation, an accident is never attributed to a single factor, in a model known as 5M, referring to man, machine, medium, management and mission.

A second wave of infections is imminent if the relaxation only breeds complacency or the fallacy that we have moved closer to beating the pandemic.

Keeping a close eye on fire and deforestation alerts during the current dry season would be a good indicator of the effectiveness of policies and good forest management.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its immediate health impacts and long-term economic fallout, is among the greatest crises the world has ever dealt with. It is the test by which political leadership will be judged for years to come.

Unfortunately, individual participation in the bond market has been low. Retail investors account for 3 percent of tradable government bond ownership.

The number of COVID-19 cases and related deaths is still high despite the easing PSBB period. A solid health protocol for public transportation will be a life-saving step for millions of people.

We don’t know how many offices, both public and private, are ready to fulfill the protocols. There are also questions over how closely protocol implementation will be supervised.

Nobody would expect the government to take a gamble in its decision to begin the new normal era, despite some requirements not having been met.

The rupiah’s recent moves from Asia’s best performing currency pre-COVID-19 to the worst during the pandemic-driven global market rout and now back again to the region’s best performer validates beliefs about the asset’s volatility and sensitivity to external factors.

Greater Jakarta, with more than 30 million people, sends more than 14,000 tons of waste to the eight landfills every day.

Democratic progress has certainly given us liberal legislation such as the Freedom of Information Law but citizens must be constantly on their guard as those in power repeatedly find excuses to dictate what we should know and how we should think.

Despite the progress, however, it will be too risky to confine a few community units while allowing many others to ignore, if not defy, the strict health protocols.

Students in “red zones” with high confirmed cases and deaths must continue remote learning, which will be more challenging in areas with poor communications infrastructure.

The truth of the matter is that the world is indeed watching, but it is not laughing at those brave and well-intentioned mayors and the Democratic Party presidential candidate. The world is laughing at Trump’s leadership, or its lack thereof, during the country’s national crisis.

The government is set to provide a Rp 25 trillion (US$1.68 billion) stimulus package including airfare and hotel discounts to speed up the recovery of the travel industry.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo keeps talking about living in the new normal, but without sufficient preparation, people will only return to the old normal — to their crowded and unhealthy, and likely more risk-filled, lives. Like in any other critical time in the country, he has ordered the deployment of police and military personnel to ensure discipline in provinces with the highest cases and deaths. This sounds quite like the old times.

From a health perspective, December is not the right time to hold simultaneous regional elections. 

It is high time that the government accelerates the disbursement of financial incentives to medical workers, the unsung heroes in our battle against COVID-19. 

Employers and unions, or any workers’ representative body, can look to businesses in other countries that have designed their own health protocols and to the World Health Organization’s website, which issued guidelines for the workplace in March.

Celebrating Idul Fitri modestly this year not only makes religious sense, but can also help in the fight against COVID-19.

The days ahead of the Idul Fitri holidays, expected to fall on May 24-25, and the 10 days to June 4, still carry great risk.  

President Jokowi has in recent weeks taken measures that could weaken the basic foundations of democracy and rule of law.