Our education system has not really made a break with the past, in which students were trained to follow instructions and critical thinking was diminished at the behest of an authoritarian regime. 

Last week, the rupiah neared the psychological barrier of 14,000, the lowest level in two years, after hitting 13,700 early in April.

We cannot be indifferent when it comes to reducing plastic waste. Indonesia, globally accused of being the second-worst marine polluter after China, has made several attempts to reduce this waste, but results have been negligible.

Consciously or unconsciously, ASEAN members tend to judge the humanitarian tragedy only from their own perspectives or interests. 

The regulation has been designed in large part to expedite the permit process of hiring foreign workers for occupations that cannot be filled by local workers in light of speeding up investment.

Reporting Indonesia has been an honor and a labor of love. 

How can a company operate properly if its management can be sacked after only two to three months in office?

From the macroeconomic point of view, renewable energy development creates new jobs and therefore boosts growth. In fact, employment in the renewable energy industry has continued to rise.

The government has ignited a road revolution in the past few months. While people have grown dependent on cars to travel from their homes in suburbia to Jakarta, it has implemented an odd-even policy, in which cars may only travel during morning rush hours on alternating days, according to whether the last digit in their license plate is odd or even. 

Cash facilitates crime because it is anonymous, and big bills are especially problematic because they are so easy to carry and conceal.

There is a simple reason for Facebook’s indifferent approach: Indonesia does not have a comprehensive regulation on the protection of online personal information.

Business leaders have been complaining about what they view as increased government intervention in the market.

As most major powers have a vested interest in Syria, an outsider might be able to bring a new perspective to the peace efforts so refugees can go home safely without fear of reprisal.

One can blame poverty and the hardship of life in tough urban or far-flung areas, but young foreign tourists enjoying their trips to various areas in Indonesia have also been killed by bootleg liquor. 

The key point of Jokowi’s Indo-Pacific strategy is his emphasis on ASEAN as the driver of a car that will bring those on board to a common destination. 

The current government has issued only 25 licenses between 2015 and 2017 for converting 796,000 ha of forests into pulpwood plantations, and has instead focused on social forestry programs.

Global oil prices have hovered above US$60 per barrel since early this year, higher than the $48 assumed for the 2018 state budget.

Developments in Malaysia are indeed worrying. Its leaders know very well how to benefit from divisions in society, where Malays and Muslims are treated as first-class citizens according to its Constitution.

Last week, in true Kafkaesque fashion, the government decided that in response to demands that native faith followers be granted recognition from the state, it would issue a different type of identity card.  

In response, the Religious Affairs Ministry and the National Police have set up a task force to prosecute “unscrupulous” travel agencies. 

Only 65.40 percent of the 16.3 million registered individual taxpayers filed their 2017 income tax returns by the March 31 deadline.

313 democratically elected regional heads have been implicated in corruption cases, 77 of whom had been caught in the act in one of the KPK’s sting operations.

Health Minister Nila Djuwita Anfasa Moeloek has assured us that the worms are not dangerous because they die when fish is cooked properly — they even contain protein. Thanks but no thanks, professor.

This inequality issue could be overly exploited by narrow-minded politicians to mislead the public about the real problems, even at the risk of stirring social conflict.

Religious minorities are suffering from intimidation, intolerance and even hatred from those who believe only their religion should be allowed to exist or that the minority should surrender to the majority.

Even now with import restrictions still in place, steel imports already account for about 55 to 60 percent of our annual steel consumption of around 12 million tons, while the domestic steel industry operates only at 40 percent of its capacity, according to the industry association.

There must be a concerted effort to demand transparency and accountability from Facebook.

ATM skimming is a global threat and cash withdrawal machines in countries that rely on magnetic stripe technology-based debit cards, like Indonesia, are very vulnerable to the crime.

Mounting evidence shows less public participation in clean water management in Jakarta has led to high water rates and poor performance.

A criminal act involving a driver should also justify stricter supervision on the part of the government to implement its regulation regarding ride-hailing apps.