TheJakartaPost

Don't be fooled by Big Tobacco's sustainability awards

Tobacco companies want you to know they are great corporate citizens. But it’s all a fig leaf for their environmental offences. ...

3 years ago

Indonesia could pair its vast solar and hydro storage to decarbonize the country

Indonesia has a nature-based solution to this problem: the country can use its enormous potential for off-river pumped hydro energy storage (PHES). ...

3 years ago

The Latest

Urban poor – A resident carries out her daily activities in a slum area in Kapuk Teko, Jakarta, on Sept. 27. Poverty alleviation is one of prime issues highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global development agenda adopted by world leaders last year.

A place to breathe in jam-packed Jakarta

Jakarta’s high-rise settlements are the most crowded places in Southeast Asia. New community centres provide vital outdoor space for a hemmed-in population.

3 years ago

The new reserve regime: Responsiveness or inconsistency?

BI's aggressiveness in raising the GWM creates the impression of being impatient.

3 years ago

Former energy and mineral resources minister Arcandra Tahar speaks to journalists at the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister on Aug. 9, 2016.

All the way on dual citizenship

The security argument against dual citizenship no longer holds water due to increasing government-surveillance power, thanks to information technology.

3 years ago

How big data matters for public policy in Indonesia

Corporations tend to be reluctant to share their client data to protect their reputation and competitiveness.

3 years ago

Nature walk: A group of people take a walk in Southeast Asia’s largest peat forest situated between the Katingan and Mentaya rivers in Central Kalimantan on May 20, 2022.

How voluntary carbon markets can help Indonesia meet its climate goals

While Indonesia is currently the eight largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, it also has the second largest global potential to provide low-cost, nature-based solutions for decarbonization.

3 years ago

A man transports vegetables he bought at the wholesale market on his motorbike in Jakarta on April 13.

Burning more money

The fiscal policy shows that the government will focus on strengthening the role of the state budget in absorbing the impact of the skyrocketing food and energy prices.

3 years ago

Indonesian palm oil farmers take part in a protest demanding the government end the palm oil export ban, outside the Coordinating Economic Minister office, in Central Jakarta.

Erratic policies exacerbate uncertainties in palm oil industry

The intention to audit all palm oil companies has added to the confusion surrounding the way President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been addressing the skyrocketing price of the commodity.

3 years ago

New cooperation: Officials of ASEAN member countries, including Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi, virtually attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, organized by the United States and Japan in Tokyo on Monday.

Biden’s new trade-pact offer is almost a laughingstock

Despite the US’ repeated denials, its invitation of the ASEAN members was clearly another attempt to persuade them to join the alliance against China.

3 years ago

The banking industry long enjoyed popularity among students, attracting quality job-hunters. However, the current trend is expected to have a certain influence on the job market.

How public policy deals with challenges in the banking sector

Based on the Cybersecurity Exposure Index survey in 2020, the cybercrime index in Indonesia currently reaches 0.62, higher than the global average of 0.54.

3 years ago

Hug please: A passerby hugs an activist campaigning for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Jakarta in June 2019.

US-ASEAN’s inclusive prosperity overlooks the region’s homophobia

Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but morality and public unrest have been frequently used to justify raids and arrests.

3 years ago

A woman carrying her baby crosses a destroyed bridge as they flee the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 7, 2022. Ukraine dismissed Moscow's offer to set up humanitarian corridors from several bombarded cities on Monday after it emerged some routes would lead refugees into Russia or Belarus. The Russian proposal of safe passage from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Sumy had come after terrified Ukrainian civilians came under fire in previous ceasefire attempts.

Short-term choices with long-term consequences

Yet the war in Ukraine, direct sanctions and related self-sanctioning have together exacerbated a crisis that currently sees 49 million people facing emergency levels of hunger, and 811 million going to bed each night hungry.

3 years ago

A woman cries and hugs a young girl while on the phone outside the Willie de Leon Civic Center, in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday. A teenage gunman killed 18 young children in a shooting at an elementary school in Texas on Tuesday in the deadliest US school shooting in years.

Teachers are there, brave and strong in face of ordeals

Regardless of their political stance, teachers have been the victims and witnesses of violence, as well as the protectors of their students and consolers in the aftermath.

3 years ago

Race to the office: Many workers kept coming into offices during the pandemic, enduring Jakarta's legendary traffic jam, only to find barely tolerable working environments (Antara/Galih Pradipta)

Time to return to office

Many are happy to return to the office as they believe face-to-face interactions will go some way toward a stronger workplace synergy.

3 years ago

Literacy forum: Millennials participate in a talk show organized by state-owned company PT Danareksa at Gandaria City Mall in South Jakarta on Jan. 15. The event aims to promote public literacy in finance and investment amid the hyped online trading.

Trading fraud: When the digital economy dream goes awry

Online trading fraud brings to the surface the critical question of who must or, indeed, who can bear the transaction costs of the digital utopia when it fails.

3 years ago

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework not a blessing for Asia

The United States claims to support the centrality of ASEAN, yet IPEF apparently takes little heed of ASEAN's preferred way of inclusive regional cooperation.

3 years ago

Money talks: Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi (center) briefs the media, accompanied by his Cambodian counterpart Pan Sorasak (left) and Deputy ASEAN Secretary-General Satvinder Singh after the ASEAN Economic Ministers' Special Meeting in Badung, Bali, on May 18.

ASEAN must move more boldly on economic integration

ASEAN’s network of loosely-prioritized policies creates a cumbersome policy landscape that arguably promotes discussion over action.

3 years ago

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left), US President Joe Biden (second left), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (second right) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave to the media prior to the Quad meeting at Kishida's office in Tokyo on May 24.

Cherry-picking Biden

For Biden, this was an opportunity to combine security and economic cooperation with the regional grouping, clearly with the ultimate goal of forming a multilateral force to contain China.

3 years ago

Indonesian President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (on screen) speaks during the opening of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Jakarta on February 17, 2022.

Indonesia's G20 tightrope

The war in Ukraine became a test for Indonesia’s independence and active foreign policy principles, especially given its G20 presidency.

3 years ago

The national flags of Australia and China are displayed before a portrait of Mao Zedong facing Tiananmen Square, in 2011.

China is still Australia's trade frenemy

Despite rising geopolitical tensions the evidence of a correlation between political talk and economic connections between trading nations is often overdone.

3 years ago

An Indian cricket fan waves the national flag during the Women's Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and India at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on March 27, 2022.

The new world order and India’s quandary

With a new cold war afoot, states are being asked to choose sides. For India, self-identity and domestic politics will all come to bear.

3 years ago

A worker adjusts an ASEAN flag at a meeting hall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 28, 2021

Greek lessons for ASEAN nations

As global superpowers tussle for supremacy, smaller nations need to be nimble to avoid being crushed.

3 years ago

This handout photo taken and released by Dawei Watch on April 29, 2021 shows a protester holding a sign supporting the newly formed opposition National Unity Government (NUG) during a demonstration against the military coup in Pandale village in Dawei's Launglone township, Myanmar.

Myanmar’s opposition groups are too demanding of ASEAN

The National Unity Government (NUG) claims itself to be the official representative of Suu Kyi’s government in exile, but the outside world especially ASEAN is still extra cautious knowing the history of frictions among different ethnicities and political affiliations in Myanmar.

3 years ago

Precautionary painting: Two artists paint a COVID-19-themed mural on a concrete pillar beneath the Cawang-Tanjung Priok elevated toll road on Jl. D.I Panjaitan, East Jakarta, on Friday. Artists from multiple communities helped paint a set a murals in the area to increase public awareness about COVID-19.

COVID compliance: Jakartans trust the government more compared to people in South Sulawesi

We found more people in Jakarta complied with government control measures by practising “safe” protective behaviours, and have correct science-based beliefs than people in South Sulawesi.

3 years ago

A rainbow flag representing the LGBT community is flown in this file photo. (Unsplash/Raphael Renter)

Pancasila, Indonesia and LGBT in our lives

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD wants to suggest that Indonesia needs a law to regulate what some deem to be deviant LGBT behavior.

3 years ago

Historic win: Indonesian basketball team celebrate after beating defending champion the Philippines in the gold medal match at the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi on May 22, 2022. The 85-81 win gives Indonesia its first basketball gold medal ever in the regional sporting event.

Surprises at SEA Games

For Youth and Sports Minister Zainuddin Amali, the smaller team -- emphasizing the young -- was part of the country’s sports-development strategy to achieve more at the Olympic level.

3 years ago

Rallying cry: A group of people claiming to represent the Islam Ideology Defense Alliance (Perisai) rally outside the Singaporean Embassy in South Jakarta on May 20 to protest the country’s rejection of Muslim cleric Abdul Somad Batubara.

Another perspective about Singapore’s rejection of preacher Somad

Some Indonesians think they are free to say anything they like about other people, although they know their remarks are offensive.

3 years ago

Pulmonologist Koko Harnoko (center, in blue face shield) examines a COVID-19 patient as a nurse looks on in an intensive care room at Bogor General Hospital on Sept. 7, 2020 in Bogor, West Java.