Across the country the bed occupancy rate at hospitals is equally a cause for concern. 

Policymakers will continue to walk on a tight rope with physical distancing, testing, tracing and isolating as their main instruments to fight the virus.

Many would agree that 75 years of age is a hallmark. The government and the public at large might have planned a more festive Independence Day celebration this year, until the pandemic came.

President Jokowi should consider dealing with the health crisis as an implementation of this constitutional mandate.

More than just a matter of complementarity and the need for a tough, tormenting debater to fight along with, the choice of Harris shows Biden is seizing the momentum to write the history of America, and perhaps humankind.

While the capacity of government and local administrations is limited, it should consider cooperating with private labs that are quite common in the cities.

The 5.3 percent economic contraction in the second quarter reaffirms the vital role of the agricultural sector, even though its contribution to gross domestic product has steadily declined to 15.5 percent. 

Whether it is a tragedy or comedy of democracy, we may have to be ready to watch Jokowi campaign for Prabowo in the 2024 presidential election.

The stark difference between Indonesia and countries where students have returned to school – like Japan, South Korea and Israel – is that control of the virus continues to elude Indonesia. Even in the countries that have been able to manage infections, parents remain wary of letting their children attend in-person classes, regardless of strict health protocols. In certain cases, such as one in Israel, schools were closed again after reopening because students and teachers got ill.

It is a rather solemn day for ASEAN to commemorate its 53 years of existence.

Government spending contracted 6.9 percent in the second quarter, a deeper contraction than consumer spending, which saw 5.51 percent negative growth.

Supreme Court Regulation No. 1/2020 stipulates that corruption convicts inflicting at least Rp 100 billion (US$6.88 million) in losses to the state and playing a leading part in the crime can be sentenced to life. 

The growing urban middle-income population has undergone dietary and lifestyle changes in recent years toward more grains and oilseed commodities, vegetables, fruit, fish and chicken. Hence, while the agricultural support policy should continue to aim at keeping our dependence on rice imports very low, the government should allocate more resources to the production of other food crops and horticulture.

In a religious society like Indonesia, clerics, clergymen and other faith leaders gain respect and protection from their congregations as a result of their roles as moral guides who lead their people to God.

For the national economy, Bali’s tourism industry is key. In 2018 alone it contributed Rp 100 trillion to state revenue, according to the Tourism Ministry. 

While the capture of Djoko, dubbed Joker by many, marked an end to an 11-year manhunt, it should kick start more daunting work for the country’s law enforcers. Djoko’s arrest has provided a new opportunity for both the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to revamp the system to deter cops and prosecutors from compromising their integrity.

Wearing masks at all times when in public, washing hands and keeping a distance—these are the true sacrifices that people should make these days.

Corruption will continue if steps in the application and evaluation process are not clear and transparent, thereby opening doors for businesspeople to offer bribes and for licensing officials to solicit bribes to speed up the process.

Reopening the economy will not help the country recover if the transmission spirals out of control. Before allowing the reopening, Anies threatened to hit the emergency brake if infections continued to increase. With the second transitional PSBB ending July 30, perhaps it’s time for him to remember his words.

The President has estimated that a potential national vaccination program would require 347 million doses. That’s a huge figure and would be largest number of vaccine doses the nation ever provided.

For young democracies like Indonesia, the loss of faith in democracy could bring disastrous consequences.

The South China Sea dispute is heating up, and it is happening at the worst possible time.

National Children’s Day, which we commemorate today, is a time to consider our obligations to the next generation. The COVID-19 pandemic has put children’s lives at risk, even though the virus has mostly infected older people. Moreover, its economic impact has deprived many children of their needs, especially for health and education.

The emphasis on economic recovery – which the Jokowi administration exercised in the first half of this year – has proven ineffective at slowing down the spread of the virus. 

Despite internal reforms, the National Police continue to be perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country. From low-ranking officers who demand small bribes from traffic rule offenders to generals who have reportedly amassed huge fortunes beyond their stations, there have been numerous instances that have tarnished the image of the police in the eyes of the public.

The decision of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to nominate President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka for the Surakarta mayoral election was, therefore, to be expected, although it came a few months late because of internal squabbling. Other parties within and outside the ruling coalition look set to throw their weight behind Gibran.

In a democratic society, to which the post-New Order Indonesia now belongs, the military should have no role whatsoever in affairs that should exclusively be within the civilian domain.

Unstable internet connections and difficulty in accessing financing continue to be the major roadblocks for MSMEs in digitalizing their operations, according to a recent Sea Insights survey. 

The government’s failures over the past two decades in tracing and recovering stolen assets from Switzerland have shown that what are legally acknowledged as criminal acts and tax fraud in Indonesia and Switzerland are not entirely the same.

With no signs as to when we can beat the pandemic, allowing children to leave home for classes only amounts to exposing them to the virus, even if they follow the protocols – wearing face masks, frequently washing their hands with soap and staying at least 1 meter away from one another.