Former United Nations secretary-general and chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia Seoul Conference Ban Ki-moon delivers a speech at the forum on Tuesday.

Learning from South Korea’s nomination for ILO top post

President Moon did not hesitate to call for support from heads of foreign governments like he recently did during his Middle East tour. He persuaded Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Salman to support Kang.

4 years ago

Academia

Volcanoes, plague and famine: Welcome to 536, the ‘worst year to be alive’

Welcome to the New Year: as ghastly as the old one. ...

4 years ago

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Myanmar crisis: Is this the beginning of the end of ASEAN?

Entering its second year, the protracted Myanmar crisis has become a catastrophe that has put ASEAN's very existence at stake. ...

4 years ago

The Latest

A supermaket display shelf stands almost empty of cooking oil on Jan. 27, 2022 in Bekasi, West Java. The government has imposed a single price policy of Rp 14,000 per liter to calm consumers amid the skyrocketing prices of staple goods in the market.

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Cooking oil debacle is palm oil conundrum

The government needs to come up with an appropriate policy measure based on big data to tackle the skyrocketing prices of domestic cooking oil.

4 years ago

Indonesia's six unicorns shown on a screen on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. The six are ride-hailing company Gojek, e-wallet OVO, online travel agency Traveloka, logistics company J&T Express and e-commerce platforms Tokopedia and Bukalapak.

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World tech start-up leader: Indonesia’s big dream

With strong demand and huge market potential, local tech firms are expanding to smaller cities and rural areas while planning to go public.

4 years ago

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Ending death penalty as Jokowi’s legacy

Research shows that the public opinion’s overwhelming support for the death penalty in Indonesia is vastly exaggerated.

4 years ago

Emergency meeting: Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing (bottom right) attends a meeting of ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on April 24, 2021, for talks on how to guide the country out of the crisis he created.

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Enforcing ASEAN’S consensus is suicidal for Myanmar’s junta

The junta leader has no intention of realizing a single point of the agreement from the very beginning, and even when he does, the people and the ousted civilian leaders will choose to fight the junta anyway.

4 years ago

The G20 Sherpas on day one of the first Sherpa Meeting on Dec. 7, 2021. Attendants included Mari Elka Pangestu, managing director of Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank.

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G20: Turning a talking shop into a parade of actions

The G20 forum could be a legitimate channel for capital formulation, and yet it should also serve our global humanitarian objectives.

4 years ago

New professor: Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri is being inaugurated as professor at the Indonesian Defense University in Sentul, Bogor, West Java on June 11, 2021. Four months later, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo named her the head of the steering committee of the National Research and Innovation Agency.

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‘BRIN without brain’, integrity or freedom?

Research institutes should not be guided by politicians if they want to maintain their integrity. Secondly, Megawati is not even an academic.

4 years ago

Alverno Hospital staff member assists a leprosy patient to cast his vote in the Singkawang mayoral election in Singkawang city, West Kalimatantan.

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Don’t forget leprosy

Some people affected by leprosy and their families find that COVID-19 is exacerbating the discrimination they already experience because of leprosy.

4 years ago

Academia

Imlek 2022: Thankfulness and hope

Chinese New Year in Indonesia is a cultural celebration that brings together people of diverse backgrounds, and this year's holiday offers an occasion for reflection and gratitude.

4 years ago

Future currency?: A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin and US$1 banknotes are seen in front of a stock graph. Some central banks have warned about the significant speculative elements of bitcoin and other crypto-assets.

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Scrutinizing the possibility of issuing a digital currency

CBDCs have the potential to play a huge role in the central bank's efforts to continue providing secure payment instruments, in line with the ever-increasing digitization of people's daily lives.

4 years ago

Field check: Police officers talk to the employees of a drugstore in Blitar regency, East Java, on July 7, 2021, as part of an operation to observe the implementation of a new regulation on the maximum retail price of certain drugs.

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Indonesia can improve access to, availability of medicine

From a regulatory perspective, considerations and exceptions should be made for policies on the procurement of goods and services related to drugs, as they can have a direct impact on the quality of human development and even lives.

4 years ago

A supermaket displays almost empty shelves for cooking oil in Bekasi, West Java, on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, as government applies a single price at Rp 14,000 (97 US cents) per liter to calm consumers amid a hike in the market price of staple goods.

Academia

Why cheap cooking oil comes at a high price

Subsidizing the commodity benefits producers, whose income is guaranteed, and the wealthy, who pay the same price as the poor.

4 years ago

Coming home: Then-women’s empowerment and child protection minister Yohana Yembise (second left), a native Papuan, opens the annual Baliem Valley Festival in Walesi district, Jayawijaya regency in Papua on Aug. 7, 2019.

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Yohana Yembise: Portrait of a true Papuan lady

As a cabinet minister in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s first term of government, Yembise established her credentials as someone who was willing to challenge the status quo.

4 years ago

Learn from the nature – Visitors pass a canopy trail, one of facilities at the Bodogol Nature Conservation Education Center in the Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park (TNGGP), West Java.

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Nature: An untapped resource in the fight against climate change

Investments in nature play an important role in reaching net zero, but they cannot negate the need to decarbonize.

4 years ago

Students attend in-class learning on Jan. 10, 2022 at SD010 Batam Kota elementary school in Batam, the Riau Islands. The provincial administration has allowed all schools to reopen after recording a low rate of COVID-19 transmission.

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Curriculum 2024 and the changing role of teachers

While all stakeholders should welcome the new curriculum, it will not succeed unless the deep-seated, conservative mindset of Indonesian education can be changed.

4 years ago

Unity in diversity: Open University students from across Indonesia attend the opening ceremony of the Academic Discussions and Sports and Arts Week (Disporseni) on Thursday in South Tangerang, Banten.

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Diversity made Indonesia; intolerance may end it

The past two months have seen our pluralist society in great peril with three separate incidents that seem to designed to undermine our diversity.

4 years ago

Buddhist monks pray during the funeral of Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who died at the age of 95, at the Tu Hieu Pagoda in Hue, Vietnam, on Jan. 23.

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Remembering Thich Nhat Hanh, who taught mindfulness, ‘interbeing’

As a form of active engagement with every moment of daily life, the practice of mindfulness has energized people across time and place.

4 years ago

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi gives a press statement at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten.

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How can Indonesia develop its digital diplomacy?

While Indonesia’s efforts to implement digital diplomacy continue slowly, Indonesia must begin to pursue consistent engagement more aggressively with foreign nations through digital channels.

4 years ago

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo speaks to the World Economic Forum via video link from the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, on Jan. 20.

Academia

New health fund needed

In Jokowi’s mind, the permanent solution takes the shape of a new body to coordinate global health resources. To finance, for instance, the world’s health emergency operations and procurement of vaccines, medicines and medical equipment.

4 years ago

Malnutrition, stunting, children's health.

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Indonesia and G20: The opportunity to address food, nutrition and climate

Indonesia is a leader in safety net design, including shock responsive safety nets, and now is the time to show the rest of the world how safety nets can also be catalysts for food system transformation and resilience.

4 years ago

President Joko Widodo (right) greets Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Oct. 30, 2021 at the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit in Rome.

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New era of taxation: Two-pillar solution shows massive global coordination

The October 2021 consensus over the OECD/G20's two-pillar solution for digital taxation is an incredible demonstration of international cooperation in addressing a global challenge.

4 years ago

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Beijing is where everything changed for me

There is nothing like walking into the Olympic stadium and feeling that energy of the crowd.

4 years ago

An 'ojek' (motorcycle taxi) driver working via on-demand transportation and services company Gojek uses a voucher for free staple food packages at an Alfamart outlet in Jakarta.

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Informal workers, jobs and digital platform potentials

A study on the increased use of digital labor platforms among informal workers during the pandemic indicates the need for policy development and improvement to accommodate this growing subsector.

4 years ago

Staying close: Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong takes a selfie with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on the sidelines of their leaders retreat on Bintan Island on Jan. 25.

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Singapore is not a parasite dependent only on its neighbors

Relationships between nations should be mutually beneficial. It is true that Indonesia is the largest member of ASEAN, but it has no right to demand respect from others when it fails to respect them.

4 years ago

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo presents his national statement as part of the World Leaders' Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov. 1, 2021.

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Intervention is feature not bug in Jokowi economic policies

As a politician Jokowi was a dyed-in-the wool nationalist nominated in the election by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

4 years ago

All about the youth: A bank clerk (right) helps a customer conduct a digital transaction at a bank branch in Jakarta.

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The prospect and challenges of digitalization in the banking industry

We are seeing a wave of newcomers coming from the tech ecosystem, with fintech and e-commerce players setting up banking operations to strengthen their financial ecosystem play and further monetize their high customer base.

4 years ago

Green energy target: A worker inspects solar panels on top of the Electricity Directorate General’s office of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, in Jakarta, on Sept. 28, 2020.

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Disconnect with developing world spells doom for current climate goals

Many people struggle to survive on a subsistence level as nearly half of the world lives on less than US$5.50 a day ($210 a month) and their attendant governments subsidize fossil fuels for political stability.

4 years ago