Indonesia

Hand-Carved Skulls to Be Returned to Indonesia

Authorities are set to announce the return of five hand-carved 18th- and 19th-century human skulls to Indonesia. The intricately decorated skulls from the Dayak tribe raised suspicion when they arrived at a mail facility in Newark, New Jersey, last summer. They had been shipped from Bali, Indonesia, with a declared […]

Survey names Soeharto best president

Soeharto was named Indonesia’s best president by a plurality of respondents, according to a survey released on Sunday. According to the Indo Barometer survey, 40.9 percent of respondents agreed that Indonesia was better off under Soeharto’s New Order than under former president Sukarno or the current reform era. “This is […]

Terrorists and media

Terrorism in the media: More than just code of ethics Terrorists are also celebrities. The media popularizes them. Through TV we witness how the “hunted” and the “hunter” often sit side by side in talk shows. This fact reminds us of Erving Goffman’s book The Presentation of Self in Everyday […]

Conclusions of Jakarta ASEAN Summit

The two-day 18th ASEAN Summit concluded here Sunday with the release of the Chair’s Statement on ASEAN Community-building, the implementation of ASEAN Charter and other issues. JOINT EFFORTS FOR COMMUNITY-BUILDING The leaders agreed and adopted three joint statements on “ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations”, “Establishment of the […]

Letter: Religious Difference (Jakarta Post)

This is in reference to Aries Musnandar’s letter titled “Why do you defend Ahmadiyah?” (the Post, May 4). Protestantism and Catholicism are not two different religions. They are two different strains of the same faith (Christianity), in the same way that Shia, Sunni, Alawi, Sufi and Ahmadiyah Islam are all […]

“All believers are brothers, so make peace between your brothers and be mindful of your duty to Allah that you may be shown mercy.” (Sura 49:11)

and: “In case two parties of the believers fight against each other, bring about reconciliation between them. If, however, one of them persists in belligerence and transgresses against the other, bring your collective might to bear upon the one that transgresses to force him until he agrees that his dispute […]

Jakarta hosts the 18th ASEAN summit from May 7-8,

Looking beyond 2015, RI wants a common platform for ASEAN Jakarta will host the 18th ASEAN summit from May 7-8, where the leaders of the association’s 10 nations will discuss regional and global issues. The Jakarta Post’s Abdul Khalik and Sita Winiawati Dewi talked to Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on […]

Uniform pattern in sectarian conflicts

After weeks of tweaking and trials and errors, an activist at a prominent human rights group was finally able to connect his laptop computer to an old 32-inch cathode-ray tube television at home. Although he had seen it about 20 times already, Hendi (not his real name) was eager to […]

Indonesia seeks more Chinese investment

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia is looking to attract more direct investment from China over the coming years. The country, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations trading bloc (ASEAN), hopes the move will help to narrow a gap in bilateral trade that has been widening in recent years. […]

Is there hope for Peace

How Will Bin Laden’s Death Affect Terror Movements? The death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden could temporarily dampen but not put an end to radicalism and terrorism activities, including in Indonesia, experts said on Monday. Osama was killed on Sunday in a firefight with U.S. forces in Pakistan […]

Academics to Take Lead in Deradicalizing Campuses

A group of prominent Muslim academics vowed on Thursday to fight the creeping radicalization of university students taking place on campuses across the country. Ismail Hasani, a researcher at the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy and a lecturer at Jakarta’s Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN), said the academics […]

Radical religion teachers must go: Govt

Deputy National Education Minister Fasli Jalal says he has witnessed strong indications of radicalization of junior and high school students across Indonesia, adding that it was carried out by Islam religion teachers. “We have seen these radical teachers teaching students the wrong way. We must do something to neutralize [the […]