Rescue teams and villagers use heavy equipment in an effort to evacuate victims from the rubble of a mosque, in West Pasaman, on February 25, 2022, after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit the area and damaged hundreds of houses and public facilities.

Strengthening disaster risk management in Indonesia

Most sensors today are surface-based and shallow water-based, meaning little important environmental data from the ocean depths is collected today.

3 years ago

Academia

Why many Indonesian experts are pro-Russia and ignoring Ukraine’s perspective

Indonesia, the current host for the G20 summit, has not joined the chorus of nations, particularly western countries, in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ...

3 years ago

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Safe and sound ‘mudik’ in the new normal era

The concern is whether villages are well prepared to receive the influx of so many urban people, especially if rural people are not yet fully vaccinated against COVID-19. ...

3 years ago

The Latest

Israeli security forces scuffle with a Palestinian man as he tries to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound to attend the Friday prayers, on April 15. More than 100 people were wounded today in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, in renewed violence, as Jewish and Christian festivals overlap with Ramadan.

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Israel’s apartheid a serious threat to international peace and security

Such crimes have taken on a new formula in recent years, and the apartheid regime has exacerbated its senseless actions against the Palestinians.

3 years ago

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi gesture as they pose for pictures before their meeting at the lawns of the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on March 19, 2022.

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PM Kishida is on a brand new mission to Indonesia

Indonesia and the 10-member ASEAN will seek a more transparent standpoint and concrete actions from Japan in dealing with the current international issues.

3 years ago

Hundreds of Muslim students sit reading copies of the Quran at the Ar-Raudhatul Hasanah Islamic boarding school in Medan, on April 3, as Muslims around the world start the holy month of Ramadan.

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Seeing Islam as a religion of compassion and mercy

The opening words of the Quran and all surah (chapters), with the exception of surah al-Tawbah, begin with the invocation: In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful.

3 years ago

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani addresses the second G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting on April 20, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Academia

Indonesia’s leadership test

Indonesia has stayed true to its neutral course at the latest G20 meeting, but the biggest challenges are yet to come.

3 years ago

The occupational safety and health law urges businesses to make efforts to prevent passive smoking at workplaces, but sets no penalty.

Academia

Acting together to build a positive culture of safety and health

Social dialogue has been instrumental in reaching agreements on how best to protect workers from the pandemic.

3 years ago

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (left) meets his French counterpart, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, on Jan. 13, 2020 at the defense ministry in Paris.

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Defense procurement ToT deals pave way for strategic autonomy

Amid the ongoing global polemic, Indonesian can seek to increase its strategic autonomy via ToT programs as part of its defense procurement deals.

3 years ago

United States President Joe Biden participates virtually in the annual ASEAN Summit on Oct. 26, 2021 from the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC.

Academia

Jokowi’s G20 summit rescue mission to the White House

Jokowi will have to pull all the stops in using his unique brand of Javanese diplomacy to find a win-win solution to save the G20 Bali summit.

3 years ago

Tourists visit Menara Kudus Mosque in Kudus, Central Java, on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020.

Academia

Indonesia enlists Muslim clerics to promote clean energy

Following Morocco’s step, the Indonesian government involves clerics and religious organisations to promote green energy in the country where nearly 90% of its 270 million population are Muslims.

3 years ago

Meet the leaders: A visitor passes a display of puppets made to resemble Indonesia’s former presidents Soeharto (left), BJ Habibie (center) and Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid. The three presidents led the nation through its most tumultuous period in the late 1990s to the early 2000s.

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Indonesian presidents in times of crisis: The way I see it

Before the 1997 crisis hit, foreign countries such as the United States and Japan and international organizations like the World Bank treated Indonesia as their “golden boy”.

3 years ago

This aerial photo taken on Sept. 19, 2019 shows boats on the Mekong River along the Laos side (L) and Thai side (R) in Chiang Rai province of the Golden Triangle.

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How did false data turn the Mekong River into an ‘issue’?

The US blamed China for the droughts and floods in the Mekong Basin, and ignored the negative impacts of climate change, extreme weather, dam construction in other riparian countries and surge in agricultural water use.

3 years ago

Nutritious fish: A kindergarten student shows his fish-based food during a love seafood campaign at the Art Center in Ciamis regency, West Java, on March 24. The event was part of efforts to fight stunting in children.

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Let’s promote STEM education from early age

Indonesia only produced eight STEM-related field graduates per 10,000 people.

3 years ago

Center stage: United States President Joe Biden (center) takes part in the ASEAN-US Summit on the sidelines of the 2021 ASEAN summits held online in Bandar Seri Begawan on Oct. 26, 2021.

Academia

ASEAN-US summit: Yes to economic cooperation, no to security alliance

Biden’s Indo-Pacific economic framework would make up for the missing piece to help ensure that the 10 ASEAN members continue to have strong engagement with the US.

3 years ago

A man wearing a face mask stands next to a board showing the progress of developing an mRNA type vaccine candidate for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a news conference at the National Primate Research Center of Chulalongkorn University in Saraburi province, Thailand, June 22, 2020.

Academia

In mRNA we trust

The mRNA vaccines developed to fight COVID were found to be safe and effective, even for pregnant women, inspiring scientists to explore their potential.

3 years ago

Boxes of Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines, redeployed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, arrive at a cold storage facility in Accra, Ghana on May 7, 2021.

Academia

Lessons from COVAX could help vaccine equity

COVAX was supposed to be the elixir for vaccine inequality - it wasn’t. However, lessons can be taken from previous global experiences to help make progress.

3 years ago

A health worker prepares to assist with a procedure for early detection of cervical cancer at a Puskesmas (public health center) in Palembang, South Sumatra.

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HPV vaccine rollout: New hope in fight against cervical cancer

The government's plan to roll out the HPV vaccine as part of the national childhood innoculation program is a big step toward a world free of preventable cancers.

3 years ago

Familiar faces: West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil (left), Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (center) and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo pose for a photo session on Feb. 19, 2020. The three governors will end their terms this year or next year and be replaced by acting governors.

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Acting regional heads: Small mandate, big responsibilities

It is said that change begins at home, and the central government must address its own structural and cultural problems so the incoming interim regional heads can get local programs rolling.

3 years ago

Indonesia has the world’s fifth-highest number of internet users. Indonesian internet users increased from 132.7 million to 150 million last year.

Academia

Powering the future of Asia’s growing economies

While digital applications can make economies more agile and efficient, they also tend to be bandwidth-intensive and latency-sensitive.

3 years ago

Technology is often touted as a solution to the world's environmental challenges, but it is also part of the problem: industry executives are facing rising pressure to clean up their energy and resource-intensive business.

Academia

Democratizing access to finance: Can technology help?

A Gallup poll in November 2021 of several thousand American investors found that over 48 percent of them are very interested or somewhat interested in investing in sustainable companies, although only 10 percent do so.

3 years ago

Winds of change: The wind power plant that was inaugurated by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in Sidrap regency, South Sulawesi, on Monday, July 2, 2018. JP/Andi Hajramurni

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Energy justice: Not an option, but a must in energy transition

It is crucial to secure the energy access of marginalized communities and facilitate their participation in energy distribution -- issues often dismissed in the existing energy system.

3 years ago

Green car: An official charges an electric car on Friday after the launch of the first public electric vehicle (EV) charging station, which will be used for EVs transporting world leaders during the Group of 20 summit in October, in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Academia

Accelerating Indonesia’s journey to net zero is a shared responsibility

As a country with rich natural resources such as nickel, and abundant renewable energy sources, Indonesia is primely positioned to be a driving force in the net-zero industrial revolution.

3 years ago

In this file photo, members of climate action protest group Scientist Rebellion hold signs during a demonstration in Glasgow on the sidelines of the COP26 UN Climate Change Summit on November 8, 2021.

Academia

Obsession with climate change distorts our priorities

Today, almost every natural disaster routinely gets blamed on the climate crisis, with every new hurricane held up as another exhibit of man’s folly.

3 years ago

Superhero puppets: Two puppet characters battle each other in a scene that uses real fire as a special effect on Feb. 18, during a demonstration at the filming studio of Pili International Multimedia 8450.TWO in Yunlin, Taiwan. Pili has turned to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to generate new revenue while keeping the traditional glove puppets of Taiwanese culture relevant among today’s audience.

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How NFT liberates ordinary artists

NFT is a global marketplace where artists (and all creators) can make an entry without being “desk rejected” for unfair or unscrupulous reasons.

3 years ago

Internally displaced people arrive at a centre for the displaced persons in Zaporizhzhia, some 200 kilometers northwest of Mariupol on April 6.

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The last tears of Nikolai Gogol: A note on Ukraine and Russia

No grand theory – The End of history or Clash of civilizations – perhaps would explain Russia’s war against Ukraine without researching what really happened during 2014-2019.

3 years ago

Monopoly is turning the gender pay gap upside down with a new version of the board game where women earn more than men.

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Kartini Day: Toward equality in female labor force participation

Based on Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data in 2019, there is an almost 30 percent gap between the participation of women and men in the labor market.

3 years ago

United States President Joe Biden attends the virtual US-ASEAN Summit on Oct. 26, 2021 from the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC.

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ASEAN must get back to basics ahead of US summit

Given the current world order's abysmal track record, ASEAN should get to know who it is dealing with to prevent another missed opportunity.

3 years ago

People queue to purchase cooking oil provided by the local government in Surabaya on Feb. 18, in an effort to stabilize prices due to shortages.

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The imbroglio and fiasco within the cooking oil market

The biggest mistake was that when the Trade Ministry imposed price controls to protect consumers, it did not assign a special agency to manage and supervise the implementation of the DMO and DPO.

3 years ago