Prodita Sabarini – Come Ramadhan, mosques in Indonesia bustle with people donating and collecting alms, or zakat, for the fasting month.

In Ramadhan, Muslims are reminded of their obligation to pay alms to the poor.

Warwick Fry – There has been plenty of warm inner glow around East Timor about the exemplary conduct of the general elections in July.

Jakarta – Scattered across 17,000 islands on the Indian and Pacific oceans, the world's largest Muslim country has found its own blend of Islam: equal parts religion, secularism and con

Fitri Bintang Timur, Singapore – What makes certain countries great while others are not?

Ahmad Najib Burhani – In June, the Fund for Peace issued a failed-states index.

The drama of the last two days at the National Police Headquarters, involving anti graft officers spending the night and having their pre-dawn meals there, before commencing fasting, ha

Endy Bayuni, Jakarta – Last week, the National Commission on Human Rights, an independent state body, released its findings from a four-year investigation into the 1965 purge of suspect

A. Lin Neumann – We hear a lot about the greatness that is just around the corner for Indonesia, and much of it rings true.

It's official.

Khairil Azhar, Jakarta – "What is your conclusion?

Michael Bachelard – In the space of a few minutes at the start of his visit to Indonesia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, outlined two apparently contradictory ambitions.

Armindo Maia and Sue Ingram – Hopes and fears of an alliance between Timor-Leste's two major political parties, CNRT (National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction) and Fretilin (Revolu

Six weeks ago, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao formally nominated two leaders from our oil and gas sector to develop investment policy for Timor-Leste's sovereign wealth fund.

Simon Roughneen – The party of East Timor's prime minister won the majority of seats this weekend in peaceful parliamentary elections, paving the way for him to form another coalition g

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar, Bali – A new corruption scandal has shown that Indonesia's crooked politicians and government officials have no sacred cows – or books.

Eben Kirksey – West Papua is one of the most difficult places to access on the planet.

Jacob Zenn – Indonesia's Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) pressure group has this year in turns assaulted Ahmadiya and Christian places of worship, attacked journalists who reported criti

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Nowadays, people are witnessing the Holy Koran being corrupted not only on the interpretation of its content, but also on its procurement.

Indonesia has a serious rival to the Wall of China – the thicker, longer and more formidable wall of resistance against combating graft.

Oei Eng Goan – The uncongenial relations between the House of Representatives and the Corruption Eradication Commission have again been in the spotlight over the last two weeks, this ti

Damien Kingsbury – In 2010, a senior Timorese political figure remarked in private conversation that Timor-Leste had never been better.

An open letter from Victor Mambor, Head of the Jayapura Branch of the Alliance for Independent Journalists, has been circulated around Papua, highlighting the pervasive involvement of I

Issues on Papua – and its sister West Papua – have always drawn the interest of both domestic and international communities.

Noah Beaudette – In March, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali made headlines by announcing plans to ban skirts above the knee, calling such attire "pornographic."

On 11 April 2012 the Indonesian parliament ratified a law on managing social conflict (Penanganan Konflik Sosial – PKS) in order to address Indonesia's experience of dealing with social

Jennifer Robinson – As violence escalates in West Papua, one cannot help but recall East Timor and wonder how much worse it must get before Australia and the international community wil

Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, Jakarta – The problem confronted by Papua, the easternmost province of Indonesia, is structural, rather than developmental as perceived by the current government.

Oei Eng Goan – The absence of Anas Urbaningrum at the meeting of the Communication Forum of the Democratic Party's founders held in Jakarta last Wednesday has raised public speculation

In an effort to solve a problem, a leader has to avoid blowing an issue out of proportion or, in the extreme, playing it down as if everything is fine.

Emma Macdonald – The decision by independence fighters in East Timor to swap guns for diplomacy not only worked in creating the new independent nation of Timor-Leste, but serves as a ca

Endy M Bayuni – Did you know that 2012 is The International Year of the Rhino? No, you didn't miss the news. We, the media, did.

Yanto Soegiarto – Old documents reveal that on Aug. 4, 1965, Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, collapsed in his room at Merdeka Palace.

Development programs cannot proceed and are practically interrupted in times of conflict or violence.

Olin Monteiro – Does anybody really believe that a concert can stir a mass of people to devote themselves to the devil, let alone change them to become immoral individuals?

Imam Shofwan – In August 2002, a number of Islam-based political parties demanded the Jakarta Charter be included in the Constitution, which would mean that Muslims in Indonesia would h

The trouble with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is that he has probably spent too much of time travelling abroad to really understand what's going on in his own country.

Andreas Harsono – It is fashionable these days for Western leaders to praise Indonesia as a model Muslim democracy.

Desi Anwar – I'm not going to write about the Lady Gaga saga. It's too depressing. Besides, too much has been discussed about it already.

Damien Kingsbury – On Sunday 20 May, East Timor will celebrate ten years of independence.

Yanto Soegiarto – Thousands of students demonstrated in Jakarta last Saturday to commemorate the May 12, 1998, Trisakti University shootings that killed four students – Elang Mulia Lesm

Galuh Wandita, Jakarta – Back in 2005, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a pledge to rehabilitate former political prisoners from the 1965 purges.

As the nation braces for the 14th anniversary of Reformasi, university campuses, the driving force behind the sweeping political changes in May 1998, are showing signs of reviving the s

Sourav Roy – British Secretary of State, William Hague, is a delight to listen to. Even more when he dismisses an uncomfortable question hurled at him.

Bibhu Prasad Routray – As Hisyam Alizein, alias Umar Patek and a cadre of the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), rose to speak during his trial in the West Jakarta dis

M.

Indonesia has been struggling for decades to address an intriguing debate over whether an individual's religion should appear in official documents such as identity cards.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo – Recently we have witnessed more violence and intimidation under the guise of Islam.

Jakarta – Activists have once again blamed the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for not doing enough to rein in radical groups in the country that have graduated from ha

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must be commended for his plan to issue a formal apology to the nation for every abuse of human rights committed by the state against its own citizens