The Media Dilemma in the 2009 Elections
A year before the 2009 election, the Indonesian media community faces a stifling prospect. A clause in the 2008 law on legislative elections states “print mass media (must) provide fair and balanced...
View ArticleConstructing Dams vs. Global Warming
The Public Works Ministry has announced a government plan to construct 17 large dams, including the Nipah and Bajulmati, East Java; Ponreponre in South Sulawesi; Peusangan 1, 2 and Keuliling in...
View ArticleForeign Flights Increase Could Benefit Tourism
To garner more visitors for Indonesia’s tourist program dubbed Visit Indonesia Year 2008, the government should grant more foreign airlines increased flight frequencies into Bali and other tourist...
View ArticleIndonesian Democracy: Advances, Setbacks, Options
Ten years ago, Soeharto’s New Order began to be replaced by the world’s largest New Democracy. It is time for an evaluation. By 2003, Demos (The Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies), with the...
View ArticleTen Years after May 1998 Tragedy
This May we are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the May 1998 tragedy, which is better known as the May 1998 riots. This historic incident is an important life-changing milestone in many people’s...
View ArticleOrangutans May be Extinct in 3 Years
Conservationists say protected wild orangutans in Central Kalimantan may be extinct in three years unless the government acts to stop the expansion of oil palm plantations. Center for Orangutan...
View ArticleIndonesian Forests More than Just Carbon Sinks
In the last five decades, environmental awareness among people has increased worldwide, but the focus of attention has shifted from time to time. In the 1960s and 1970s, pollution got the most...
View ArticlePalm Oil Firms Vow to Stop using Forests
Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia pledged to stop expanding plantations into forests in response to growing global criticism about deforestation and to promote more sustainable products....
View ArticleSea Change Possible
There’s a war being waged in the oceans of Indonesia with death and destruction to be found along the vast coastline of this country. Cyanide and explosives are being used by unscrupulous fisherman to...
View ArticlePotato has Dim Future in Indonesia
With its high rate of growth, high yield and low water consumption, the potato has become the world’s fourth major food crop in the world, but its prospects in Indonesia face many challenges, a...
View Article