"I have great respect for farmers, breeders, fishermen, farm workers. You are true patriots. You are the unsung heroes.
Johannes Nugroho – Indonesia's ambitious goal to become a digital nation has prompted scepticism over the purported benefits of technology and Jakarta's capacity to implement initiatives ranging from QR code-based payments to its new capital city anchored by artificial intelligence.
Jakarta – Over 130 Rohingya landed on the shores of Aceh province on Thursday, an official at the UN refugee agency said, the latest in a series of such arrivals that have drawn controversy in the Southeast Asian country.
Yosef Riadi and Leo Galuh, Jakarta – At 53, Mak Luke, a transgender woman, will go to the polls for the first time when Indonesia holds an election on Feb. 14 after finally obtaining a government identity card.
Jayapura, Jubi – The Bishop of Jayapura, Mgr. Yanuarius Theofilus Matopai You, has expressed concerns over the deployment of Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police personnel from outside Papua to the region, stating that it instills fear and discomfort among the local residents.
Sholto Byrnes – The world's third-largest democracy goes to the polls on February 14. Indonesians will be voting for their president, vice president, House of Representatives, Senate and local legislative bodies; but most of the focus has been on the presidency.
Bengaluru – Indonesia's economy grew 5.0 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, supported by resilient domestic consumption, despite exports shrinking and commodity prices falling, a Reuters poll of 23 economists found.
Kuala Lumpur/Surabaya – Aeshnina Azzahra Aqilani is too young to vote in Indonesia's elections in February, but that has not stopped her from demanding the three presidential candidates adopt greener policies to combat the climate crisis.
Aryo Putranto Saptohutomo, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's policy of handing out a flood of various types of social aid (bansos) is seen as being a form of transactional politics and linked to his electoral agenda.
Matt Brann – Northern Australia's live export trade to Indonesia is in limbo as the cattle industry waits for its biggest market to issue import permits for 2024.
The Darwin Port says after a record-breaking December where 55,159 head of cattle were exported, there have been zero cattle shipped so far in 2024.
Donny Iqbal, Bogor, Indonesia – At the age of 60, Siti Salamah started making changes at her family home in the city of Bogor, just south of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital.
"We always put the kitchen waste there," Siti told Mongabay Indonesia at her home. "I collect the plastic waste separately."
Ankur Banerjee, Singapore – Indonesian markets, after a period of relative calm, are showing signs of concern about the prospect of a drawn out national election and the possibility of the country's highly regarded finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, departing.
Jakarta – Indonesian President Joko Widodo is facing mounting public criticism over his perceived political interference and lack of neutrality as he campaigns for the leading candidate in this month's presidential election.
Indonesia's General Election Commission (KPU) has revealed that a majority of voters in the upcoming presidential election will be young people. In fact, millennials and Generation Z will constitute 60 percent of the total electorate in 2024.
Adi Warsono, Bekasi – Dozens of Commuter Line or KRL users laid flowers on the broken escalator at Bekasi Station on Wednesday evening, Jan. 31. They took this action as a protest against the rail operator PT KAI Commuter that the moving stairway has been out of service for 100 days and has not been repaired yet to date.
Jakarta – Academic communities and students from a number of Indonesian campuses have banded together to issue statements criticising Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
Dani Prabowo, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia has recorded that 268 human rights defenders were victims of attacks throughout 2023, and that they came from a variety of backgrounds including women rights, environmental and indigenous community activists.
Jakarta – A Kamisan (Thursday) action today touched on the presidential and vice presidential ticket number 2 of Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 presidential election.
The Civil Society Coalition believes that Prabowo and Rakabuming Raka are not fit to be elected.
Muhammad Aulia, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has launched an investigation into Sigma Cipta Caraka (SCC), a subsidiary of the state-run telecommunication company Telkom, regarding an alleged graft scandal involving "hundreds of billions of rupiah."
Agnes Valentina Christa, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) has deployed 446,291 personnel to safeguard the 2024 elections.
TNI personnel, together with the General Election Commission (KPU), the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), and the community will assist in securing the 820,000 polling stations (TPS) across Indonesia.
Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto used to crack heads; now he busts moves. The favourite to win Indonesia's presidential election on February 14th stands accused of many past abuses. As a special-forces commander under Suharto, a dictator, he allegedly permitted atrocities in Timor-Leste in the 1980s.
Annisa Febiola, Jakarta – Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairperson, Diana Dewi, criticized the recent policy of the provincial government to increase the vehicle fuel tax by 10 percent. She believed that the policy was issued at an inappropriate time and requested the city administration to review and postpone it.
Annisa Febiola, Jakarta – Presidential candidate number 02 Prabowo Subianto has again stressed that the downstream program, including the nickel downstream project, plays a pivotal role in the nation's development.
Savero Aristia Wienanto, Yudono Yanuar, Jakarta – Almas Tsaqibbirru has stirred up controversy again. After successfully leading Gibran Rakabuming Raka to advance to the presidential election with a judicial review granted by the Constitutional Court, the young man is now suing President Jokowi's eldest son for failure to fulfill his obligations as the Mayor of Solo.
Parliza Hendrawan, Jakarta – PT Pertamina Hulu Rokan (PHR) Regional Sumatra has made another discovery of hydrocarbons, which is a sign that there is petroleum. The hydrocarbon was found in an exploration well in Musi Rawas, South Sumatra.
Yoga Eka Sahputra, Jakarta – The head of Batam Development Board or BP Batam Muhammad Rudi, responded to Ombudsman's investigation on alleged maladministration in Rempang Eco-City. According to Rudi, BP Batam has to abide by all rules in developing the national strategic project.
"I believe the law enforcement [team] knows better," he said on Wednesday in Batam.
Elodie Jakes, Jakarta – Digital research firm Populix discovered that Generation Z voters, who are predominantly first-time voters, hold high hopes for the presidential candidates, while Millennials tend to be more pragmatic and skeptical going into the 2024 election in February.
Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia recently announced it would import three sets of Chinese trains worth totaling Rp 783 billion or approximately $49.7 million.
Monique Handa Shafira, Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported a year-on-year inflation rate of 2.57 percent and a month-to-month rate of 0.04% for January 2024, in line with the government's target of 2.5 percent.
Jakarta – Vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka revealed the possibility of discontinuing the Farmer's Card (Kartu Tani) program if he and Prabowo Subianto won the 2024 election during his visit to a farming community in Tegal regency, Central Java.
Stevani Wijaya, Jakarta – The National Police's Traffic Corps (Korlantas) has implemented "ZZ" as the new identifier for VIP license plates exclusively designated for high-ranking state officials.
The fresh identifier, positioned at the end of the alphanumeric sequence, replaces "RF" and "QH," which have been widely misappropriated by private vehicle owners.
Jakarta – Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto said he would dedicate his life to serving the Indonesian people.
Speaking to his supporters, Prabowo, who used to be in the military, said that he had vowed to serve this country since a young age.
Jakarta – Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto recently said that people should keep an eye on the voting stations to prevent any rigging.
Prabowo was addressing a crowd of his supporters –who were members of the Bakti untuk Rakyat ('Serving the People') community– in Jakarta on Monday.
Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto recently earned more support for his presidential bid. Hundreds of thousands of people joining the Bakti untuk Rakyat ('Serving the People") community declared their support for Prabowo in Jakarta earlier this week. There are around 500,000 members, all coming from different backgrounds.
Celvin Moniaga Sipahutar, Jakarta – Indonesia holds the sixth position among ASEAN countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2023.
Indonesia's CPI remains unchanged at 34. Despite the stability in Indonesia's CPI score, the country's global ranking dropped by five positions to 115th place in 2023.
Alfida Rizky Febrianna, Jakarta – The Citywide Inclusive Sanitation Project, currently in progress in Mataram, Pontianak, and Semarang, will receive a $419.6 million (Rp 6.6 trillion) loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian government's freedom-of-information clearinghouse has ordered state-owned electricity utility PLN to disclose emissions data for some of the country's biggest coal-fired power plants.
Divya Karyza, Jakarta – The government is facing fresh calls to evaluate the public health and socioeconomic impacts of the country's widespread use of coal-fired power plants as it moves to implement the landmark Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
Jakarta – The active participation of Indonesia in supporting South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has won accolades both at home and overseas. Drawing such a clear line is indeed a manifestation of the constitutional mandate.
Yogyakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Tuesday continued his tour of the Central Java region where he inaugurated seven new roads connecting a number of small cities in Yogyakarta.
Jakarta (Agencies) – Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD on Wednesday said that he would tender his resignation to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo once he has the chance to meet the president.
Jakarta – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said that controlling volatile food prices, including rice, chilies and onions, is one of the government's main focuses to curb inflation and maintain people's purchasing power.
Ian Wilson, Singapore – When, during Indonesia's first presidential debate on Dec 12 last year, candidate Anies Baswedan remarked that people had lost faith in Indonesia's democratic process, his rival, current frontrunner Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto responded animatedly, "If democracy failed, it would have been impossible for you to be the governor!"
Ridzki R. Sigit, Central Aru, Indonesia – One afternoon last November, Natanel Ginobal, 67, drove his motorboat to check the mud crabs caught by the traps he had installed earlier the day. He had to move quickly before the tide started receding and made it much more difficult for him to harvest his catch of the day.
By Max Lane
Executive summary
Jakarta – Bank Mandiri announced on Wednesday that it had achieved a record-high net profit of Rp 55.1 trillion ($3.5 billion) in 2023, reflecting robust growth of 33.7 percent year-on-year, driven by the positive outcomes of its digitalization initiatives.
Yohanes Maharso, Defara Dhanya, Jakarta – Suharso Monoarfa, Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas, denied the notion that investors are hesitant to invest in Nusantara National Capital City (IKN) projects in East Kalimantan.
Suharso said the fact that many projects have started is proof that investors are interested in IKN.
Clara Maria Tjandra Dewi H., Jakarta – PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KAI Commuter) apologized for the disruption to Commuter Line services this morning due to flooding on the upstream and downstream routes between Jakarta Kota-Tanjung Priok Station. The flooding disrupted at least 11 rail trips in the Priok area.
Adil Al Hasan, Jakarta – Presidential candidate number 3 Ganjar Pranowo claimed that he received reports from regional heads regarding intervention to not support him in the upcoming presidential election. He stressed that he would fight such intimidation in a constitutional manner.
Mutia Yuantisya, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detained another suspect in the alleged corruption scandal at the Manpower Ministry. The suspect, the director of PT AIM (Adi Inti Mandiri) Karunia, was detained at the KPK Detention Center last Monday.