Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – For any senior citizen, receiving a permanent lifetime identity card should be as natural as the aging process itself. But not so for Nani Nurani.
It took her more than six years, a Supreme Court decision and many hours of anguish before she received her rightful ID three weeks ago.
Al Makin, Heidelberg, Montreal – Our honorable members of the House of Representatives seem to put "personal bravado" above long-term national interest in their intention to pass "the already softened version" of the anti-pornography bill – and are undeterred by the mounting protests from numerous societal groups.
On 9 October, President Jose Ramos Horta has submitted the report to Timor Leste's Parliament in Dili, and it was received by Parliament head Fernando de Araujo (Lasama).
Bandung, West Java – Dozens of students in the National Student Front staged a rally at the Indonesia Education University (UPI) campus in Bandung on Wednesday, protesting against capitalism and a speech being delivered about the American election by a US delegate.
Tony Jones: The Indonesian Government has confirmed that almost 40 police officers have been interviewed about the shooting death of a senior tribal leader at a peaceful rally in West Papua in August this year.
Human rights groups say they suspect the man was murdered by a gunman working for the military or intelligence services. Jeff Waters filed this report.
Thousands of Papuans demanded a referendum on independence from Indonesia during a peaceful rally watched by hundreds of riot police.
At least 5,000 people gathered in the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura to denounce the 1969 referendum that handed sovereignty of the resource rich former Dutch colony to Indonesia.
Rob Taylor, Canberra – East Timor is facing a food crisis and more than half the fledgling country's youngest children are now going hungry as global food prices soar, a new aid report warned on Thursday.
Jakarta – About 2,000 people rallied in the Jayapura, Papua, on Thursday, calling for independence for the remote, resource-rich area in the far east of the country, Reuters reported.
Shouting "freedom", some protesters carried banners saying "Review the act of no choice in 1969", referring to a disputed vote that led to Papua being formally incorporated into Indonesia.
Moksa Hutasoit, Jakarta – It is as if protest actions are never absent from the lives of Jakarta residents. Today, seven demonstrations will be held by various different groups across Greater Jakarta.
Bernarda Rurit, Jakarta – The Free Papua Organization flag the Morning Star reportedly hoisted in Yogyakarta on Thursday morning to coincide with a convention on West Papua held in London.
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – A convicted accomplice in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib denied he was ever in contact with the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) or its former deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono, who is accused of masterminding the assassination.
Dini Mawuntyas, Jakarta – Around three hundred workers demonstrated at the Regional House of Representatives in Surabaya East Java to demand rise on low pay.
The demo was organized by the Congress of Indonesian Trade Union Alliance (KASBI) urging the regional legislators to mediate negotiation to increase wage with their employers and the Surabaya city administration.
Syaipul Bakhori, Jakarta – Hundreds of workers occupied a timber company in Jambi demanding their unpaid salaries and severance pay.
Around 300 ex-workers of PT Loka Rahayu Plywood demostrated near the company's facility supported by the provincial legislators to demand the company to pay severance fund an unpaid salaries of 555 ex-workers totalled at Rp 31,5 million.
The village of Tai Tete is a 40-minute climb from the town of Maliana, in the west of East Timor.
Farida Iqbal – "The right of self-determination is important because it's part of the pure principle of democracy", Jacob Rumbiak, foreign affairs co-ordinator of the West Papua National Authority (WPNA), explained to Green Left Weekly during the national conference of the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) on September 13-14.
Jakarta Post, Jakarta – About 100 people from the Anti-Corruption Papuan Society Alliance Community (KAMPAK) rallied at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding the police clamp down on what they claim is rampant corruption throughout their region.
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – On any other day, members of the House of Representatives would be on the prowl for TV and print journalists, in an attempt to publicize what they claimed to have done for their constituents back home.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has changed the celebrity style of many legislators and, for some, struck terror into them.
National leader John Key advocates that the Super Fund invests in up to 40% New Zealand companies. A good place to start would be by cleaning out deeply unethical international investments. The Super Fund currently invests in a plethora of companies involved with environmental destruction and the production of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.
Jayapura – Police early Wednesday motning pulled down and confiscated four Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flags of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) which unidentified people had raised at four different spots in Nabire.
Indra Harsaputra and Abdul Khalik, Surabaya, Jakarta – The country's soldiers will have to wait at least until after the 2009 elections to exercise their right to vote, after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed them Tuesday to remain neutral in next year's polls.
Timika – Five men have been arrested after an outlawed separatist flag was raised in Indonesia's remote Papua province, police said Wednesday.
A group of people unfurled the outlawed "Morning Star" flag early Wednesday at in four places including in front of the local assembly and government offices in Nabire town, local police chief Rianto Jatmono said.
Yuli Tri Suwarni and Ni Komang Erviani, Bandung, Denpasar – The controversial anti-pornography bill is drawing yet more opposition from various parts of the country, with many fearing the bill could threat the traditions of several ethnic groups in Indonesia.
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is still heavily politicized, with many of its key members joining the elections race more than 10 years on from the outset of the military reform, experts and activists say.
The political tide within the TNI, combined with a slashed budget, will weaken the military, a joint press briefing heard in Jakarta on Monday.
Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Feeling the heat from the global financial woes, the government has revised down budget assumptions for next year – including economic growth, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati says.
A chasm of perceptions, of mind-sets, is unfortunate but inevitable between a people claiming to have been oppressed and those deeply offended by such a claim.
Evan A. Laksmana, Singapore – The Indonesian Military (TNI) celebrated its 63rd anniversary on Oct. 5. Its formal commemoration, however, will be held on Oct. 14 because the original date was too close with Idul Fitri, which fell on Oct. 1.
Dili – The East Timorese ministry of justice is preparing a penal code which would decriminalise many abortions, but with little visible public support and no public debate, civil society groups are questioning the law's origins.
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – With the global financial crisis currently battering local markets and expected to hit middle and low-income families within the next three months, domestic politics could turn ugly in the lead up to the April 2009 general elections.
Dicky Christanto and Luh De Suriyani, Denpasar – More than 5,000 people from various occupations, religions and organizations stormed Denpasar's main thoroughfares Saturday with one goal in mind – to protest against the pornography bill, currently being deliberated by lawmakers in Jakarta.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has, after some delays, finally published the preliminary list of 11,868 legislative candidates for the total 560 seats in the 2009 elections. The list was published early last week in Republika daily and on state-owned television channel TVRI, and is open for public scrutiny until Tuesday.
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – The ideal proportion of votes a party must win to be able to put forward a presidential candidate would be around 20 percent, which would create a solid and effective government, experts say.
Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Hasan Tiro, the supreme leader of the former separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), cited Sunday a string of heroes from Aceh's past in his appeal for his fellow Acehnese, including former rebels, to work for peace.
Soibada, East Timor – East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta said Monday he wants the United Nations to drop its investigation into bloodshed surrounding a 1999 independence vote from Indonesia.
Luh de Suriyani, Denpasar – Survivors and relatives of the victims of the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings said prayers and lit candles on Sunday during a small, private ceremony to remember the sixth anniversary of the deadly attacks.
An opposition plan for a massive march on East Timor's capital and rumours of tension in the police force are raising concerns of a return to instability in the tiny Southeast Asian nation.
An unsigned pamphlet has been circulated in Dili complaining of official discrimination against Timorese from the impoverished country's western region in favour of those from the east.
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesians should base their lives on the values of pluralism and respect for differences which they have inherited from their founding fathers so as to allow people of different ethnicities and religions to work together for prosperity, religious leaders agreed on Saturday.
Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – In the weeks before and after the Idul Fitri holidays many middle-class households are busy with domestic matters. Now, however, is when families go hunting for maids.
Stephen Coates, Banda Aceh – Pink from floor to ceiling and with hot pink windows and doors, the office of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA) looks more like a perfumery than the nerve centre of a former rebel army.
Hotli Simanjuntak and Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – Deafening shouts of 'Allahu akbar!' and 'Long live Wali Nanggroe!' greeted the long-awaited senior Aceh figure, Hasan Tiro, who arrived in the capital Saturday after an absence of almost 30 years.
Adianto P. Simamora and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Dozens of corruption suspects have made it onto a provisional list of legislative candidates recently published by the General Elections Commission, poll watchdogs say.
The impact of the global financial crisis will be felt the deepest next year, economists said at a discussion on Friday.
Amid a slowing global for Indonesian products, the economists said the manufacturing industry will face a pressure from a liquidity squeeze and a slump in people's purchasing power, they said.
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has said the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is welcome to follow up an investigation involving the alleged misappropriation of Bank Indonesia funds by AGO prosecutors.
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has called on Indonesian Muslims to alter their perception of mudik (journeying to one's hometown), citing the many people who died in road accidents during the Idul Fitri holiday.
Pandaya, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has been accused of turning a deaf ear to public demands that former Bank Indonesia deputy chief Aulia Pohan be charged over his involvement in the Rp 100 billion (US$10.3 million) BI scandal, even though he has been implicated by key suspects and witnesses in the ongoing trial.
Denpasar – Thousands of protesters rallied on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali on Saturday to demonstrate against an anti-pornography bill denounced by critics as a threat to national unity.
More than 5,000 protesters surged through the streets of the mostly Hindu island's capital in opposition to the bill under deliberation in Jakarta.
Banda Aceh – Hasan di Tiro, founder of the former rebel group GAM in Indonesia's Aceh, returned on Saturday after more than 30 years exile, welcomed by thousands of people in the province on the tip of Sumatra.
His return came a day after Finland's former president, Martti Ahtisaari won, the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in global peacemaking including in Aceh.
Ati Nurbaiti, Banda Aceh – After three decades of absence, Aceh's former resistance leader Hassan Di Tiro arrived in Banda Aceh in Saturday to a cheerful greeting by thousands of his supporters.
Tiro landed at 11 a.m. to sound of adzan (Muslim calling for prayers) by the greeters, waving to claps of cheering crowds.
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – Trouble appears to be brewing in East Timor again as security forces step up roadblocks and increase security around government buildings.
Fretilin, the largest political party, is organising anti-government protest marches across the country, prompting threats by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to jail participants.
Cirebon, West Java – His face blackened by smoke and dust, and sweat streaming into his eyes, Sugeng took a break by the roadside after clocking 100 kilometers, halfway to Jakarta from Cirebon.
"I'm really tired. I'm taking a rest," he told The Jakarta Post while seated on a food vendor's bench and stretching his feet, shortly before the Idul Fitri holidays.
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Another key witness in the murder conspiracy trial of former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono gave confusing testimony, sparking laughter from courtroom observers.