On a Sunday morning in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, there is no guarantee of getting a spot on one of the benches to sit and have your chicken soto soup.  Perhaps if you get there at 7am, you might get a seat straight away – perhaps. Otherwise, you will join the ‘queue’ that mills around […]

I lived the first twenty years of my life in Fairfield in the western suburbs of Sydney. It was a working class suburb. The population was mainly Anglo in the period – 1950-65, although the next ring of suburbs west was attracting an Italian migrant population. My parents owned a successful Ladies Hairdressers Salon business […]

“Ingatan Revolusi, Aksi Masa dan Sejarah Indonesia” – UNFINISHED NATION   Sedikit cerita.   Dengan dicetaknya edisi ketiga bukuku UNFINISHED NATION, kami merubah pemunculan judul buku. Seperti bisa dilihat dalam versi edisi bahasa Inggeris yang terbit duluan, judulnya ialah: UNFINISHED NATION: Indonesia Before and After Suharto.   Kalau edisi perdana bahasa Indonesia judulnya BANGSA YANG […]

Click on the link below each excerpt to read the full article. 1. President Joko Widodo’s Image Problems 26 JAN 2021 “The opposition’s weakness means that the Indonesian president’s recent problems carry few political costs – for the moment. Last year, President Joko Widodo’s image as a populist “close-to-the-people” political leader suffered a series of […]

“On 2 February, Agus H Yudhoyono (AHY), the Chairman of the Democrat Party (PD), publicly accused President Joko Widodo’s Chief of Staff, retired General Moeldoko, of plotting to organise an Extraordinary Congress (KLB) of the PD to seize the leadership of the opposition party. Moeldoko, not a PD member, denied the accusations.   AHY is the son […]

No parliamentary opposition means the government is not held to account for its vaccination programme. Indonesia’s pandemic response and relief efforts continue to struggle with the tensions between economic and health priorities. Last year, this manifested itself in the uneven and changing “lockdown” policies restricting social mobility. At the very beginning of the pandemic’s spread […]

Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo has called for criticism of his administration. He got more than he bargained for. On 8 February, President Joko Widodo made a call for more criticisms of his government from society. Ironically, his call was met with a shower of criticisms that many people had been charged and jailed precisely for making criticisms, […]

The opposition’s weakness means that the Indonesian president’s recent problems carry few political costs – for the moment. Last year, President Joko Widodo’s image as a populist “close-to-the-people” political leader suffered a series of blows. 2020 was marked by regular demonstrations protesting many of these issues, especially the Job Creation Law as well as a constant […]