Julia Perkins, Jakarta – After marching with thousands of other workers on Parliament House here on May 1, 1500 workers from the Indian-owned textile company Texmaco camped outside overnight to protest against their treatment by their employer and demand higher wages.

In the wake of Labor leader Kim Beazley's meeting last week in Jakarta with Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid and PM John Howard's response to Wahid's announcement on April 27 that he was postponing his May visit to Australia, media commentators have claimed that there is a major policy difference between Beazley and Howard over Australia's "relationship" with Indonesia.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – The discredited former special forces commander, Prabowo Subianto, has announced in Jakarta that his almost two-year exile in Jordan is over and that he is transferring his commercial activities back to Indonesia.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) urged politicians and the government on Tuesday to enhance political stability by not exaggerating political differences.

Jakarta – Virtually no new money has entered the forestry and plantation sectors the past two years because potential investors have been frightened off, an executive said on Tuesday.

Thousands of people protested in Indonesia on April 1 against policies demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for loans – these include cuts to subsides on fuel, public transport, electricity and education. An increase in prices on basic needs will drastically affect the lives of millions of poor Indonesian people.

Budiman Sujatmiko, chairperson of Indonesia's People's Democratic Party (PRD), has been active in the movement for democracy in his country since 1988, when he was a student at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University.

Ambon – Up to 200 members of the Laskar Jihad (Jihad Force) Muslim group have entered riot-torn Ambon from Namlea Port on neighboring Buru island, police said. Maluku Police spokesman Maj. Jakriel Phillip said on Monday that police and intelligence officers have been deployed to monitor the group's activities.

Jakarta – Despite being more democratically elected and rambunctious in its work, the current legislature is seen to be less qualified and productive than previous ones, a senior observer and politician has said.

Jakarta – A gold mining firm has started vacating its mine in Indonesia's East Kalimantan following a three-week blockade by residents angered over land compensation issues, a mine official said Tuesday.

Jakarta – An Indonesian newspaper has agreed to run a front- page apology for seven days and build a mosque following protests over an article which angered a Muslim group, a journalist and a report said yesterday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economic growth this year should easily meet official forecasts of between three and four percent, the government said in the latest revised letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bandung – Continuing worker protests may prompt at least 20 foreign manufacturing companies to relocate outside Indonesia, the Indonesian Business Council says.

Council chairman Sofyan Wanandi said the companies, mostly owned by South Korean investors, included 13 firms operating in Jakarta and its surrounding areas and seven in Karawang, West Java.

Jakarta – The Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Military have agreed to work together to create a conducive and safe environment for businesses operating in the country, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Pandjaitan.

Jakarta – Once powerful generals are facing inquiries into various crimes. Munir, co-founder and advisory board member of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) shares his reasons for pessimism with The Jakarta Post. An excerpt of Thursday's interview follows:

Bogor – A group of 100 masked-men brandishing sharp weapons and wooden sticks raided and burned nine dimly lit kiosks and a discotheque at Kampung Kemang and Kampung Kirey at noon Sunday.

Warren Caragata, Jakarta – Can the country's grocers fight off foreign giants? The new Carrefour supermarket on Jalan Sudirman, Jakarta's busy main thoroughfare, may look like the French hypermarches in Paris or Marseille: food on one side; electronics, books, and clothing near the door. But the resemblance ends there. The deli carries no goose-liver pate or Camembert.

Jakarta – The first wave of hardline Muslim jihad fighters arrived in Indonesia's bloodied Spice Islands yesterday with the army saying it was powerless to stop them.

Jakarta – Two retired generals separately testified before National Police investigators on Thursday and Friday that the country's former "political patron" was behind the July 27, 1996, violence.

Surabaya – Police at Indonesia's second biggest port of Surabaya yesterday allowed hundreds of hardline Muslim jihad fighters to board a commercial ship sailing to the strife-torn spice islands or Maluku.

Jakarta – The future of post-Suharto Indonesia hinges on how the nation handles its military, according to a report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) released Thursday.

Wellington – Foreign Minister Phil Goff Friday sent Jakarta a list of assets held by former Indonesian president Suharto and his family in New Zealand. The list was sent to Indonesia's Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and included a multi-million dollar alpine lodge, Lilybank Station.

Tim Dodd, Jakarta – For five days this week Indonesia's media was in hot pursuit of the story that President Abdurrahman Wahid planned to retire on his 60th birthday in September this year.

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta – On April 20, in a house on Irian Street in Jakarta's residential district of Menteng, two top Indonesian leaders broke fast together.

Jakarta – The rupiah is undervalued due to lingering volatility on the Indonesian political front, according to an executive of a foreign hedge fund.

"Theoretically the rupiah is still undervalued. It should range between Rp 6,500 and Rp 7,000 [against the dollar]," Calvin Y. L. Ho, senior portfolio manager at Citicorp Investment Bank Ltd. of Singapore, said on Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia will more than double monthly allowances for impoverished state teachers, Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo said yesterday, but rejected their demands for a 300-per-cent wage hike.

Jakarta – Former vice president Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno and former armed forces commander Gen. (ret) L.B. Moerdani were questioned on Wednesday over their roles in a 1984 shooting in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, that left at least 40 people dead.

Lindsay Murdoch and Tony Wright Jakarta and Jerusalem – Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has urged that Australia's defence forces resume cooperation with Indonesia's military just six months after the country's soldiers were involved in widespread violence and destruction in East Timor.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – With little fanfare, President Abdurrahman Wahid's Government has so far managed to forestall efforts by radical Muslim groups to send a "jihad" fighting force to the Maluku Islands.

Indonesian legislators have "doubled" their own pay despite protests from trade unionists and student organisations. Local media reports say the average monthly wage of the 500 members of the House of Representatives is now about US$1,200. This came after the Legislature voted to approve the bill last month and the pay hikes took effect on 1 April.

Helen Jarvis, Jakarta – April 15 marked the first anniversary of the establishment of an extraordinary organisation, the Indonesian Institute for the Study of 1965-1966 Massacre (YPKP).

Jakarta – The re-election of Yusril Ihza Mahendra as Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman has brought about a split within the party. Sixteen senior members said they would reject the results of the congress and hold a separate special congress of their own.

Jakarta – Workers across the country rallied in observance of International Labor Day on Monday to voice their demands, including a 100 percent pay increase. At least 1,500 workers from various organizations grouped under the National Front Struggle for Indonesian Workers (FNPBI) held a demonstration at the House of Representatives to air their demands.

Jakarta – A violent clash on Monday between student protesters and police in Medan, North Sumatra, claimed the life of at least two students and injured 17 others.

Both victims were reportedly shot in the neck. The dead were identified as Kelvin Nababan and Rikardo, both economy faculty students from Nomensen Christian University.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Tuesday visited Pramoedya Ananta Toer, the country's greatest modern writer whose works remain officially banned here.

Pramoedya described the meeting as "good" but said he did not ask Wahid to restore his name or grant him compensation for the work that was destroyed while he was in jail.

Jakarta – A law enacted last year by the Habibie government was designed to ensure that former president Suharto and his cronies would be immune to corruption charges, says a senior lawyer.

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers from various companies across Greater Jakarta took to the capital's main streets on Sunday as they geared up for International Labor Day on Monday. Under the close watch of police, the workers marched from the Proclamation Monument to a roundabout near Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta's main business district on Jl. Thamrin.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – After six months of trying to fathom if their President is merely a nicer clone of their former leaders or truly unusually democratic, some Indonesians think they have him figured out.

Jakarta – The government effort to probe prominent businesspeople's alleged involvement in corruption in the forestry sector is doomed to failure because of the probability investigators are also corrupt, experts said.

Jimbaran, Bali – Aside from mismanagement, poverty and overpopulation have aggravated the development of a social security system in Indonesia.

David Lague – Hostility towards Australia in the Indonesian military is undermining efforts to rebuild ties between Canberra and Jakarta and threatening the safety of Australian service personnel and equipment.

Ambon – At least six people were killed and 50 others injured on Sunday when security personnel opened fire to disperse warring groups at the border between Batu Merah and Mardika districts.

Jakarta – Indonesian police fired warning shots and tear gas yesterday to break up a student demonstration in Pekanbaru during a visit by President Abdurrahman Wahid to the city in the Sumatran province of Riau.

The shots and tear gas were fired as the students attempted to break through the police security cordon around the governor's office, the Antara news agency said.

Yogyakarta – Radical Indonesian Moslem fighters who have vowed to launch a jihad, or holy struggle, in the bloodied Moluccas said on Saturday they had been forced to postpone their departure for the islands.

In the first part of our special report on the Indonesian economy yesterday, we looked at the controversial issue of fuel and food subsidies and the millions of Indonesians who are still mired in poverty

While Indonesia's middle class do not have to worry about their next meal, many of them are still going easy on imported goods and luxuries.

Vaudine England, Jakarta – In a surprise move, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday proposed a meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao to help repair strained relationships.

Jakarta – Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra acknowledged on Friday accepting Rp 1 billion from then president B.J. Habibie to help finance the newly established party prior to the 1999 general election.

Jakarta – Legislators said after a closed-door consultative meeting that President Abdurrahman Wahid told them his decision to replace two economics ministers was due to their alleged involvement in corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Disappointment with Abdurrahman Wahid's (Gus Dur) government is leading to strange bedfellows, with the former ruling party, Golkar, the faction being most courted, says observer Azyumardi Azra, rector of the state-run Syarif Hidayatullah Institute of Islamic Studies in South Jakarta. The following is an excerpt of Wednesday's interview:

Two years after the regional financial upheaval, the Indonesian economy is slowly regaining its footing. But the recovery is tentative and many painful tasks lie ahead. In the first of a two-part special report, The Straits Times looks at the controversial issue of fuel and food subsidies and the millions more who are still mired in poverty.