About one-quarter of the world’s countries, both in developing and developed economies, have anti-blasphemy laws. Their implementation is always controversial and highly politicised.
In the last four years Indonesia has rapidly increased its academic publications output. But it still has a lot of catching up to do to be on par with other countries in the region.
Andreas Hie/www.shutterstock,com
Indonesia has the potential to make important contributions through academic research and the dissemination of knowledge emerging from Indonesian universities.
Lives of extreme poverty make Indonesian women and children easy prey for human traffickers.
Beawiharta/Reuters
An enormous rally in Jakarta, organised by hardline Islamic militia group the Islamic Defenders Front, appears to have mobilised a diverse group of conservative Muslims in Indonesia.
Racism, political agenda of Jakarta governor opponents in the upcoming gubernatorial race, and discontent from the urban poor over Purnama’s policy on forced evictions all factor in the protest turnout in addition to religious motives.
Reuters/Beawiharta
The reality of the November 4 rally in Jakarta is much more complex than growing Islamic radicalism in Indonesia.
Indonesia recently introduced forced chemical castration for perpetrators of sexual abuse against children. Last week Australian Robert Ellis (centre) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing girls in Bali.
EPA/Made Nagi
The politicisation of academia definitely contributes to a decline in academic standards. This is a situation South Africa must work hard to avoid. It can learn from others on the continent.
Protestants hold a Sunday service in the open air in Jakarta. Their efforts to erect their own church buildings have been blocked by hardline Muslim groups.
Cherian George
Giri Ahmad Taufik, Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies (PSHK)
Indonesian lawmakers should ignore a push from nationalists groups to return monopoly rights over the country’s oil and gas reserved to the state oil company, Pertamina.
Boosted by the anti-communist purge of 1965-66, Suharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years.
Reuters/Enny Nuraheni
While the details of exactly what happened during Indonesia’s 1965-66 massacre of ‘communists’ remain buried in the depths of time, here’s what we do know.
Air pollution from burning firewood and charcoal is the fourth-biggest killer in many countries.
Sexuality, since it is imbued with moral panics, has for a long time been used strategically for political purposes.
www.shutterstock.com/Romolo Tavani
While Indonesia’s Constitutional Court deliberates whether casual sex should be outlawed, the government plans to ban gay dating apps.
Jennelyn Olaires cradles the body of her partner, who was killed on a street by a vigilante group in a spate of drug-related killings in the Philippines.
Reuters/Czar Dancel
The annual Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) to be held in Bali this week is an initiative that can help change negative attitudes towards Indonesia.
Thousands of people in Bali have joined a movement to reject land reclamation in Benoa Bay.
Supplied
Hangga Fathana, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) Yogyakarta
An Indonesian expert in Australian studies weighs in on the recent survey of Australian-Indonesian perceptions.
George Brandis (centre) was ‘the guest’ of the co-ordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Wiranto (right), during a recent visit to Indonesia.
Matius Murib