Amy Heppy, Jakarta – The Jakarta Transportation Agency urged the public to remain wearing masks while riding public transportation. The notion is regulated in Circular Letter No. e-0002/SE/2023/SE/2022 concerning Obligation to Wear Mask in Public Transportation Facilities during Endemic Transition Period.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo summoned Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto to Jakarta State Palace on Friday morning, January 6, 2023. The spokesman for the Defense Minister, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, confirmed the news about the summoning but refused to provide further details on the substance of the meeting.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – A lawsuit has been filed against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the Jakarta Administrative Court (PTUN) following his controversial decision to inaugurate Guntur Hamzah as a Constitutional Court (MK) Chief Justice in replacing Aswanto.

Mirza Bagaskara, Jakarta – The deputy chairperson of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Alexander Marwata on Thursday said the anti-graft agency will allow Papua governor Lukas Enembe – who is a suspect of alleged bribe – to seek health treatment overseas under one condition; the governor must be willing to be taken as a KPK prisoner.

Arimbihp, Septia Ryanthie, Jakarta – Siti Dyah Sujirah, popular with the nickname Sipon, who is known as the wife of the missing poet Wiji Thukul passed away on Thursday, January 5. This was confirmed by Wiji's younger sibling Wahyu Susilo in a Whatsapp text to Tempo.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – Environmental watchdog Satya Bumi lamented the government's enactment of regulation in lieu of law or Perppu No. 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation, replacing Law No. 11 of 2022 which had been declared conditionally unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in November 2021.

Bandung – The West Java branch of the Indonesian Employers Association, or Apindo, slammed Governor Ridwan Kamil on Thursday for his decision to include the employment period as an extra factor to increase the provincial minimum wage beyond provisions from the central government.

Deni Ghifari, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named and arrested three suspects in the corruption case involving base transceiver station (BTS) procurement by the Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), an agency under the Communications and Information Ministry

Jakarta – The Jakarta Corruption Court has sentenced a former senior official at the trade ministry and three palm oil company executives to jail in a case about improper palm oil export permits, according to lawyers.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has cited a possible economic recession this year to justify his executive order implementing the 2021 Job Creation Law, which has been declared conditionally unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

Fadhil Haidar Sulaeman and Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – Both laborers and businesses have expressed their concerns over government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on job creation, with the issues of minimum wage and job security remaining contested.

Amelia Rahima Sari, Jakarta – The act of a million workers alliance issued a statement in response to the government's regulation in lieu of law or Perppu on job creation. Chairman of the Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI) Muh Jumhur Hidayat said his side would not remain silent about the law ratification.

Amy Heppy, Jakarta – The Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) said that the floods that submerged parts of the capital city had receded on Wednesday night. In 28 neighborhood units or RT, the flooding receded around 11:00 pm on Wednesday, January 4.

Ima Dini Shafira, Jakarta – The latest survey by Indikator Politik Indonesia shows the electability of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan coinciding with the public discontent against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's performance.

This comes after a poll showed a low approval level against the President while Anies' electability tends to grow.

Nugroho Nafika Kassa, Makassar – This year the government of the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar will begin deliberating a draft bylaw (Ranperda) on deviant sexual behaviour, including among this Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT).

Jakarta – Siti Dyah Sujirah or Sipon died today on Thursday January 5. She was the wife of People's Democratic Party (PRD) activist and poet Wiji Thukul, who was disappeared in 1996 for his frequent and harsh criticism of Suharto's New Order regime.

Sipon married Thukul in October 1998. The couple were gifted with two children named Fajar Merah and Fitri Nganthi Wani.

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta – Indonesia condemned Tuesday's controversial visit by Israel National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound that has stirred protests from across the Arab world.

Heru Andriyanto & Chairul Fikri, Jakarta – Indonesia gets around 12,000 medical school graduates every year but few will have advanced medical training in a specific area while there is a disproportionate number of specialists working in urban areas.

Antara, Jakarta – The National Police Traffic Corps is planning to install chips and QR codes on license plates.

Once in effect, motorists will not be able to get away with using fictitious plates just to avoid being detected by electronic traffic law enforcement (ETLE) cameras. The chips and QR codes will help the police tell apart fake license plates and the real ones.

Antara, Jakarta – Statistics Indonesia in the Bogor Regency, West Java, only officially register 45.21 percent of married couples in the regency as the rest are unregistered marriages, locally coined as nikah siri.

Dicky Kurniawan (Antara), Jakarta – The National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) is strongly considering reintroducing manual traffic ticketing after it had been stopped in October of last year to boost the use of electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) and eliminate the possibility of bribes.

Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – A number of former Constitutional Court (MK) judges voted unanimously against the actions of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who issued the regulation in lieu of law on Job Creation (Perppu Cipta Kerja).

They consider President's move a bad precedent to the point that it violates the principles upheld in the rule of law.

Jayapura, Jubi – Head of the HIV/AIDS Section of the Papua Health Office Rindang Pribadi Marahaba said that until the end of September 2022, there were 7,941 HIV/AIDS patients in Papua undergoing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The number is relatively small compared to active HIV/AIDS cases which reached 46,363 patients.

PMade Supriatma – The Widodo administration's heavy-handed ramming through of the revised Criminal Code in late 2022 raises deep concerns about Indonesia's commitment to democratic process and expression.

Jakarta – Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly ordered on Wednesday the newly installed Director-General for Immigration Silmy Karim to begin work on digitizing services provided especially for foreigners coming into the country.

Yasonna said the new director-general could copy the success of other countries that conduct immigration reform.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – The Finance Ministry's special staff for strategic communication Yustinus Prastowo on Wednesday elaborated on the Ministry's income tax (PPh) calculation subjecting people who are single or are not yet married with a monthly income of Rp5 million. He insists this regulation arose from the principle of fairness.

Jakarta – We were dumbfounded to learn that the government still subsidizes the price of gasoline of RON92 and higher qualities which are used by middle and high-income consumers.

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta – The government is expecting that this year will be drier compared to the past three years, which might translate to a higher risk of forest fires than in previous years.

Muhammad Aulia, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, detained a police officer on Tuesday for allegedly misusing his authority and accepting at least Rp 50 billion ($3.2 million) in bribe money.

Antara, Jakarta – The number of public transport passengers increased during the year-end holidays to nearly reaching its pre-pandemic level. The Transportation Ministry recorded 10.31 million passengers of public transport from December 19, 2022, until January 2, 2022.

Jayapura, Jubi – The people in Baya Biru District, Paniai Regency, Central Papua Province reject the plan to build a police station in the area. Resident representative Noak Tagi said the entire Baya Biru community firmly rejected the construction.

Manokwari, Jubi – West Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Daniel T.M. Silitonga ordered the arrest of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) troops who were still spreading terror against civilians in Maybrat, Southwest Papua. He warned the police members not to let their guard down.

Makassar – Law authorities in South Sulawesi have been investigating the disappearance of some 500 tons of rice from a warehouse belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) for more than a month and finally on Monday they detained two high-profile suspects.

Now that we've established that there will practically be no Bali boink ban under Indonesia's revised Criminal Code (KUHP), let's take a look at how current and future iterations of the code can actually be used to criminalize adulterers in Indonesia courtesy of a fresh case involving a public prosecutor and her alleged lawyer lover.

The city of Medan no longer welcomes sexual minorities (this country's constitution notwithstanding) according to its mayor Bobby Nasution, who declared the North Sumatra capital "anti-LGBT."

Bobby, who is President Joko Widodo's son-in-law, recently went on record condemning men who spent New Year's Eve with other men in the city.

We've been here before, and we thought we would've learned by now. Yet the start of 2023 in Indonesia was marked by a video going viral showing, once again, that we are the biggest cause of environmental catastrophe.

A video shared on Jan. 1 by @txtdaribogor, a community account from Bogor city and regency, depicts a regular day at the popular Cibinong traditional market.

Aninda Dewayanti, Maria Monica Wihardja – There is high awareness among Indonesians about the urgency of climate change and the adoption of environmentally friendly habits but until everyone pulls their weight, including the government curbing large polluters and fixing distortionary incentives, the tide against climate change will not build enough momentum.

Hunter Marston – At the 41st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2022, the leaders of the grouping agreed 'in principle' to admit Timor-Leste as their 11th member.

Jakarta – Indonesia's state-owned railway firm KAI said on Tuesday it has received a 3.2 trillion rupiah (S$273 million) capital injection from the government to help a consortium of Indonesian and Chinese state companies complete a high-speed rail project.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo did not let a single day of 2022 go to waste. Fresh from the well-praised presidency of the Group of 20, Jokowi did not wait until the new year to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to implement the Job Creation Law, which had been declared conditionally unconstitutional.

Fadhil Haidar Sulaeman, Jakarta – Higher domestic demand spurred a December rebound for Indonesian factories as core inflation rises to within the central bank's target, indicating an optimistic start to 2023 for the manufacturing industry.

Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – While congratulating her newly appointed Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on Sunday, Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi noted that Jakarta remained enthusiastic about strengthening its ties with Beijing and bolstering the Indonesia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Investor Daily, Jakarta – Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, commonly shortened as IK-CEPA, has finally entered into force, thus paving the way for Indonesia to export more of its goods.

Amelia Rahima Sari, Jakarta – The Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) economist Bhima Yudhistira believes that the issuance of the government regulation in lieu of law on Job Creation (Perppu Cipta Kerja) will only pave the way to policy uncertainty.

Amelia Rahima Sari, Jakarta – The All-Indonesia Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI) in a written statement on Tuesday accuses President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo of betraying the constitution by ratifying the government regulation in lieu of law on Job Creation (Perppu Cipta Kerja). The confederation believes the President's move has violated Constitutional Court (MK) ruling.

Riani Sanusi Putri, Jakarta – The Indonesian Workers Union Association (Aspek) on Monday once again asserted its position against the government regulation in lieu of law on Job Creation (Perppu Cipta Kerja) No. 2/2022, which will effectively replace the publicly criticized Job Creation Law.

Asni Ovier, Jakarta – The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Herry Wirawan, an Islamic boarding school teacher who was found guilty of systematically raping 13 young students and impregnating some of them.

Investor Daily, Jakarta – Indonesia's 2022 budget has recorded a deficit of 2.38 percent of the gross domestic product against the projected 4.5 percent, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Tuesday.

The deficit amounts to Rp 464.3 trillion ($29.7 billion), representing a significant decline from the minus Rp 775.1 trillion in the 2021 budget.

Antara, Imaji Lasahido, Purwokerto – The flood on several roads in the Semarang area and its surroundings began to recede and the train routes to the northern Java area gradually returned to normal.

Editorial Board, ANU – The G20 presidency in 2022 presented diplomatic and substantial challenges that threatened to blow the forum apart, or at least to semi-permanently incapacitate it.