Last month, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a report in its annual meeting held in Vietnam entitled “Asia 2050 — realising the Asian century.” In a breath-taking sweep of economic trends and visions it describes two possible scenarios — first an “Asian century,” which is expected, and the other […]
Bogor. The Bogor Presidential Palace will be open for public in celebration of the 529th anniversary of the city of Bogor, West Java. “People are given the opportunity to visit the palace for six days. For those who are interested to come, please register with the culture and tourism office,” […]
Officials on Friday vowed to review training programs for migrant workers as news reached the country that a maid who had attempted suicide after failing a Singaporean placement test had died in the hospital. Sadono, the Asia-Pacific director for protection at the National Board for the Placement and Protection of […]
Readers of last Friday’s edition of The Australian may have been struck by the juxtaposition between an opinion piece by Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, in which he described Indonesia’s democracy as going ‘from strength to strength’, and the headline on the very next page: ‘SBY urged to back UN on […]
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially launched on Friday his administration’s ambitious Rp 4,000 trillion (US$468 billion) economic master plan for 2011 to 2025, but some of the announced “ground-breaking projects” were criticized as overlapping with the existing ones. The so-called “Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic […]
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the heads of seven key state institutions agreed to “strengthen” the state ideology Pancasila amid fears of rising radicalism among the nation’s youth. “All state institutions are committed to actively strengthening Pancasila as the nation’s ideology according to each institution’s role, position and authority,” Constitutional […]
Indonesia has been listed as the top country for entrepreneurs to start a business, ahead of the United States, Canada, India and Australia, according to a survey commissioned by the BBC. The results are based on 24,000 interviews conducted by international survey firm Globescan across 24 different countries — where respondents were […]
The Jakarta Post In reference to Mr. Aries Musnandar’s letter “The History of Abrahamic religions” published in The Jakarta Post on May 16, allow me to share my views. There is nowhere in the Koran that mentions that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last prophet and that there is […]
Following a number of religion-inspired violent incidents in the country — the most tragic of which was the incident in Cikeusik, West Java, which left three followers of the Ahmadiyah sect dead — the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sent a letter to the Indonesian government to express […]
Banda Aceh. Acehnese clerics have criticized Amnesty International’s call for the Indonesian government to repeal a bylaw that allowed caning, arguing that the practice did not violate any regulation in the world. In a statement released on Sunday, Amnesty said that caning violated the UN Convention Against Torture, which Indonesia […]
The Indonesian government must end the use of caning as a form of punishment and repeal the laws that allow it in Aceh province, Amnesty International said Sunday after at least 21 people were publicly caned since 12 May. In Langsa city, 14 men were caned outside the Darul Falah […]
Despite their deepening political divide, the United States and Saudi Arabia are quietly expanding defense ties on a vast scale, led by a little-known project to develop an elite force to protect the kingdom’s oil riches and future nuclear sites. The U.S. also is in discussions with Saudi Arabia to […]
The National Education Ministry’s plan to reconstruct the curriculum of religious education for students calls for the attention of all stakeholders, particularly because religious education has played and always plays an important role in the creation of an Indonesian identity. As we live in a diverse country, students should learn […]
Terrorism is attracting an increasing number of creative and intellectual university graduates who differ from its stereotypical adherents of Islamic boarding school (pesantren) students and preachers. For the last several years, college graduates from middle class families have played a prominent role in plotting terror attacks. The recent distribution of […]
A group of Indonesian climbers on Friday took in the view from the top of the world when they summited Mount Everest. The team of four — Broery Andrew Sihombing, Janathan Ginting, Xaferius Frans and Sofyan Arief Fesa — were accompanied by a Japanese guide and two Sherpas on their […]
CIREBON, INDONESIA — Before he strapped on his suicide vest, walked into a crowded police station mosque and blew himself up last month, Muhammad Syarif was typical of the scores of angry young men who pass their days at fundamentalist mosques in this coastal Javanese city. Enlarge This Image The authorities […]
The United Nations has written to the Indonesian government expressing “concern” about the increasing number of reports about violence committed against religious minorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, says it is yet to receive a copy of the letter, dated April 26, 2011, from UN High Commissioner for Human […]
Buddhists across Indonesia observed Waisak on Tuesday with a message that religion can be a vehicle to enlighten people and the world. Followers in Magelang, Central Java, joined the solemn procession at the yard of the world heritage site — Borobudur Temple. Sitting cross-legged, some 10,000 worshippers associated in the […]
Ahmad Masihuddin, Irwan and Bebi are the lucky ones. Ahmad recalls the moment when a man attempted to mutilate his genitals, while Irwan has developed an intense fear of water. Bebi cannot speak, due to a dislocated jaw, and must eat through a straw. Despite the fear of reprisals, two […]
A new crop circle has been reported by a group established to investigate UFO sightings in Indonesia. Beta-UFO, set up in 1997, said the latest crop circle had appeared in a rice field in Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java. “The locals didn’t know,” group member Julius Perdana told Detik.com on Monday. […]