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‘Safe Steps’ For a Walkable Jakarta
It is about time for Jakarta to start caring for its people, especially pedestrians. Walking in Jakarta’s sidewalks can be dangerous. It requires bravery to fight against motorcyclists who drive...
View ArticleCandidates Compete to Win Over Voters in Tight Race
The deals have been finalized, the documents verified, health conditions checked upon, ballot numbers drawn and the talking heads on most television channels determined to indulge Indonesians with...
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Despite Jokowi’s Hair’s Breadth Debate Victory, Candidates Remain Spotty on...
Presidential candidates Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto shake hands after the second presidential debate on June 15, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta) Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo once said:...
View ArticleThe Making of Indonesia’s Future Leaders
In a 2012 report by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Indonesia ranks as the world’s 16th largest economy and is predicted to further grow and become the seventh largest by...
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What Does This Year’s Ramadan Mean to Us?
Whirling dervishes in motion a th the Maltepe Stadium in Istanbul on the eve of Ramadan. The dervishes are adepts of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that preaches tolerance and a search for...
View ArticleEconomic Growth More Than Just Numbers for Indonesia’s Next President
The odds are that you think both presidential candidates, Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo, have an equal chance of winning the upcoming presidential elections. That’s what opinion poll statistics are...
View ArticleIndonesia: Notes On Self-Appreciation
Smoke divided the table, as we managed the meat that simmers above the sizzling pan. The conversation was as grey as the color of the beef staring back at us, helplessly being turned upside down and...
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Ramadan and the Curtain of Ignorance
Coffee shops in Jakarta adjust their marketing strategy to commemorate the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. (Antara Photo/Eric Ireng) It’s easy to be ignorant of your surroundings when you’re in a...
View ArticleHong Kong’s Umbrella Movement Inspires Reflection on Indonesia’s Democracy
“My family is fine but I know every single one of my friends went to the streets,” a friend from Hong Kong told me when asked about the Umbrella Revolution that started late in September. Formerly a...
View ArticleDebate on Interfaith Marriage Highlights Indonesia’s (Permeable) Separation...
The recent filing of a judicial review to the Constitutional Court, arguing that interfaith marriage should be allowed in Indonesia, has re-triggered the voicing of some diverse views on Indonesia’s...
View ArticleCharlie Hebdo Massacre: Is There a Limit to the Art of Satire?
Among my many labels, I like to see myself as an aspiring satirist. Whether under my name or a nom de guerre, I’ve been publishing my satirical works for the past six years. In 2010, along with a few...
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