2024-04-20 01:30
WRITE-UP TO WRITE DOWN: NICKEL DIVES DEEP21 workers died in an accident at a Chinese nickel smelter on Sulawesi island. Most were Indonesians.Indonesia’s incoming leader, t… Read More
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Indonesia Now With Duncan Graham Blog
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Interpreting Indonesia with a Western perspective:
Expanding inter-cultural understanding and mutual respect
2024-04-16 00:41
SO THERE, ALLAH, WE PASSED YOUR TEST There are five major and hundreds of minor religions in th… Read More
2024-04-12 03:36
AUSTRALIA’S BORDER FARCE A small group of presumed asylum… Read More
2024-04-09 08:26
LOSERS WHINGE, WINNERS RULE From left: Winner, then losers Credit KompasA tip to take a wee shot at understanding the way of doing politics in Indonesia: Suspen… Read More
2024-04-07 10:11
ANYHOW, HAVE AN ENVELOPE &nb&hell…Read More
2024-04-05 04:45
CLIVE OF INDONESIA KEEPS MUM First a confession: I’d heard of Australian Clive Williams the late President Soeharto’s enigmatic intermediary and started searching. &n&hell…Read More
2024-04-05 04:29
UNALIGNED - OR UNDECIDED? PRABOWO, CHINA AND USThe pic that should stir Washington. The pious general and the godless leaderThis week Prabowo Subianto has been in Bei… Read More
2024-03-17 03:20
THE KRAKEN WAKES - CLOSE BY O Judgment ! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason. ― William Shakespeare, Julius CaesarThe cross-eyed sidek… Read More
2024-03-14 03:13
THINGS UNSAID, PEOPLE UNSEEN The irony was thick as lard, yet seemingly ignored by legacy media.. What an indigestible image for International Women… Read More
2024-03-11 02:46
INDIFFERENCE KILLING DEMOCRACYA reason for Indonesians overwhelmingly supporting cashiered general Prabowo Subianto and a likely military dictatorship is because the electorate rarely… Read More
2024-03-05 10:58
A PARADE OF TALK GOING NOWHERE Count the womenASEAN has been around for so long media outlets rarely spell the full name - Association of Southeast Asian Nations. That sounds significa… Read More
2024-03-02 04:40
WE’RE HERE TO HELP - TRUST US Photo: DeTik.comDefence Minister Richard Marles telling Indonesians of “shared collective security” is irony rich. In February ne… Read More
2024-03-01 03:07
THE COMING OF FEAR If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear. ― George Orwell (Eric Blair) Later this year it&rs&hell…Read More
2024-02-20 02:03
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILYWhy did well over half the 200-plus million Indonesian registered electors choose disgraced general Prabowo Subianto as their next President? Duncan… Read More
2024-02-15 08:58
INDONESIA CHOOSES - BACK TO THE PAST First, the good news from Jakarta on the day after the national election.The asphalt wi… Read More
2024-02-14 01:46
FAREWELL DEMOCRACY There’ll be a good indicator - if not a firm result - by the time most Australians go to bed tonight. Then we’ll know if the ferociously ambitious P… Read More
2024-02-08 23:29
COMING SOON - D(ECISION) DAYTis the season to be electing: In 2024 four billion will pick leaders in the US, India, South Africa and 70 others. Among the first is Indonesia. &hell…Read More
2024-02-07 09:42
LOVE ME, LOVE MY VOTE … Read More
2024-01-31 02:47
SHAFTED BY ETIQUETTE Just a fortnight to Indonesia’s big 14 February election and the mood is shifting as more than 200 million electors realise the reality - they’re being… Read More
2024-01-24 08:08
SEX AND THE SEA: SLUGS NOT FOR SHARING Australians ended 2023 to shock-horror reports of "the largest cohort of foreign fishers to be detained in o… Read More
2024-01-24 07:38
Click the YouTube here: https://youtu.be/V_9-zWDihTg?si=6X2I1lJTZ8ag0xGK Read More
2024-01-23 09:01
THE DELIGHTFUL DUOIt looks like a student parody of two pretenders to the throne, but this is from a street poster promoting candidates for the Gerindra Party, cashiered former general… Read More
2024-01-21 06:56
FIVE REASONS WHY INDONESIA’S EV PLAN IS POWERLESS Duncan GrahamTo an Indonesian conservationist all lights look green.The wondrous 16,000-island archipelago has nicke… Read More
2024-01-10 01:51
YAWNING DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA Is it possible to overdose on politics? In Indonesia, yes. There’s a month left before the 14 February deciding date - and the road signs are… Read More
2024-01-08 05:18
TAKING THE FOREIGN OUT OF AFFAIRS How to get the young involved in current affairs? Politicians shy from the… Read More
2024-01-04 03:44
GOODISH GUY IN BAD COMPANY Gibran Rakabuming Raka is smarter than his stolid Dad Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, President of our huge neighbour since 2014. As Vice President Gibran c… Read More
2023-12-23 04:55
BOAT BOY SHAME MORE THAN A MINOR MATTER The Federal Court is set to endorse a Commonwealth payout to settle a 13-year scandal.About 220 Indonesian men will shar… Read More
2023-12-17 21:26
Equality is risky - best stay with blokes &nbs&hell…Read More
2023-12-12 10:58
BOAT PEOPLE’S HOPES BEACHEDThe Monsoon rains are moving south and the people smugglers are back in business. Duncan Graham reports from a remote beach in northwest Indonesia… Read More
2023-12-04 08:17
REVENGE OF THE JUNGLE LOOMSIndonesia’s biggest-ever civil engineering project deep in Borneo’s equatorial jungle should supposedly address a serious social and enviro… Read More
2023-11-29 01:18
FASCISM -THE FEAR THAT’S NEAR Credit: Inside Indonesia Could Australia face a fascist leader next door after the Indonesian Presidential election in February? That&rsqu&hell…Read More
2023-11-28 05:07
SAYING IT IN STONE - OR PLASTER Visitors to Bali will have admired the statues of events from Hindu ancestry - or just playful advertising. Either way the sculpture sk… Read More
2023-11-27 06:57
At last - the Oz media recognises IndonesiaWhadya reckon - an update on the bruising election campaign? A thoughtful piece about Indonesia's US$22 billion debt to China? A serious conc… Read More
2023-11-17 23:46
BACK WHERE THEY DON’T BELONG In Indonesia old soldiers never die; they just infi… Read More
2023-11-14 01:57
THE GHOSTS IN THE VOTE MACHINE &nb&hell…Read More
2023-11-05 01:07
THE CLUMSY NATION CAN’T GET TRADE TRACTION We claim to be traders but less than four per cent of our goods head to Southeast Asia - a market of more than 688 million. Trade… Read More
2023-11-01 00:28
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD - AND IT WAS UWRFUWRF founder and energiser Janet DeNeefe Was this year’s Ubud Writers and Readers Festival worthwhile? My word - the peop… Read More
2023-10-25 07:34
HOW TO CHOKE EV USE - CAR FIRST, SERVICES LATER The High Court striking down Victoria’s electric vehicle levy shows policies around the technology are a dog’s breakfas… Read More
2023-10-24 08:20
The making of a dynasty and unmaking of democracy Indonesian politics are played hard. Corruption i… Read More
2023-10-08 09:00
MUD LADY MAKES CONSERVATION COOL She’s Indonesia’s Greta Thunberg minus the environmental activist’s Swedis… Read More
2023-09-20 01:07
WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED TO NO? The ke… Read More
2023-09-08 01:02
The final question: Bury or burn?Joe's burial in Blitar Many tourists in Bali will have witnessed Ngaben, the open-air Hindu cremations. Those for the rich and famous can be spect… Read More
2023-09-01 02:37
TROUBLES NEXT DOOR? NOT OUR PROBLEM An Australian academic is risking an eruptio… Read More
2023-08-24 01:12
NO WORRIES, THEY’RE ONLY PASSING BY In the early 1960s, the then USSR started building missile sites in Cu… Read More
2023-08-16 02:36
INDONESIA HAS WHAT WE LACK - A DAY OF UNITY &n&hell…Read More
2023-08-11 02:48
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES RUSH TO “EDUCATE” INDONESIA Despite a lack of solid results, a growing number of Australian universities are rushing to set u… Read More
2023-08-03 23:56
INDONESIA ALERT: THE COLONIALISTS ARE COMING Credit: USNI Did colonialism ever die? Distant major powers are making life-and-death… Read More
2023-07-23 10:40
MEDIA STATEMENTFederated Australian Scriptural Christians In Secular TimesWe now have firm evidence that the Holy Book was seized by global Satanic forces and mistranslated centuries a… Read More
2023-07-17 00:54
He came, he saw, he wandered &n&hell…Read More
2023-07-13 10:28
WHAT YOU HEAR MAY NOT BE WHAT THEY SAY A Bill-free meeting I can’t tell you Bill’s real name, but can authenticate he was a hIgh-level Au… Read More
2023-07-13 05:19
IT'S A DOLL'S LIFE Geo-politics is played on a world chessboard often by sad oldies in sober… Read More
2023-07-04 02:09
A genocide howling for an apology gets ‘regrets' Before he left for a brief trip to Sydney, Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo took a stab… Read More
2023-06-30 07:59
A white elephant in the jungle needs a diet of dollars Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo is scheduled to visit Australia… Read More
2023-06-30 07:58
Better hate than never  &hell…Read More
2023-06-20 07:38
Hawks only become doves in election season Any plan to try and end the Ukraine war… Read More
2023-06-12 00:34
Distorting the news Damn the Chinese - who do think they are, shoving Aussies around? Their latest arrogance after banning our barley an… Read More
2023-06-06 02:12
Be a man, consume till it kills. It will &nbs&hell…Read More
2023-05-30 04:07
Compromise worked in Aceh - why not Papua? There are parallels between Indonesia’s Aceh where an Ozzi… Read More
2023-05-28 08:13
DOING LOTS WITH LITTLE ON MAGIC ISLAND Our Jakarta Embassy is the ’world’s largest Australian diplom… Read More
2023-05-18 07:59
INDONESIANS EMBRACE DEMOCRACY - BUT DO ITS LEADERS? Prabowo, Anies, Ganjar. Source: Straits Times … Read More
2023-05-15 11:38
SNUBBING THE NEIGHBOURS Seen from Indonesia, Australia’s increasing closeness to the Anglosphere corrodes the view ‘that Asia is where our future sub… Read More
2023-05-05 03:19
Rubbishing our reputation Here’s a rough guide to Westerners visiting Indonesia.Ambassador Penny Williams (Embassy) Bali gets chosen for its cheap packaged holidays… Read More
2023-04-28 00:59
The Jakarta Cup’s favourites train in Oz … Read More
2023-04-14 21:53
Indonesian politics scores an own goal135 fans died here after a game It’s the biggest story next door but barged offside by… Read More
2023-04-10 12:23
Butchering the BardWarning: Some readers may find the details below offensive, as they involve dismemberment.This is a story of a murder, the torture and despatch of our beloved… Read More
2023-04-02 05:01
Wake in fright but fear not; Ramadan’s hereCredit: Anadolu Agency It’s 1444 on the Islamic calendar and the holy month of… Read More
2023-03-28 09:22
A story likely to end badly - then continue Picture released by kidnappersIt’s the decades-long human rights tragedy next door that Australia avoids. Abuses in Myanmar… Read More
2023-03-24 11:55
SLANK SPECIALCopy this link and click to watch and hear President Joko Widodo's favourite group with our song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gkGKdwbcAMIgnore the ads at the startSlan… Read More
2023-03-24 01:54
Indonesia’s untouchables stay that way The outcome of a massive police-caused tragedy on Indonesia’s Java Island got less media coverage than a sil… Read More
2023-03-19 08:23
BLASTS FROM THE PAST Wellington 26 January 2035: Ten years ago this week the first nuclear-armed missile landed on Aus… Read More
2023-03-19 08:04
WANT TO CHANGE BAD WAYS? SHOW HOW Yong Ardinal doesn’t have to roll up his trousers and wade into the brown stream. He’s an entrepreneur employing many locals to do t… Read More
2023-03-12 09:25
Lock up your resources, the Aussies are comingIgnorance and fear can be effective weapons in a manipulative politician’s arsenal. They’re guaranteed to pierce the arm… Read More
2023-03-09 04:21
Warm fuzzies, blizzards of bland but no treaty Marles, Prabowo, Wong, RetnoAre Australia and Indonesia heading towards a security agreement / treaty m… Read More
2023-02-18 05:30
Visit Malang Where Satire’s Real DepositphotosThis story was going to start by saying Beyoncé winning the Grammys was a godsend to the Indonesian media, but on reflection… Read More
2023-02-12 09:40
Stranger danger? The neighbour we know nowt aboutCredit: Detik.comHe’s an enigma and a tease, a knotty man difficult for outsiders to unravel. Just when rationalists though… Read More
2023-02-12 09:20
The ABC of talking to neighbours Image: ABCDo we care how others see us? Not much if our prime showcase ABC Australia is a guide. It seems Corporation managers take a… Read More
2023-01-30 02:23
What’s in a name? EverythingCredit: British VogueIn the applause showered on Jacinda Ardern at the close of her term there’s one credit missing: T… Read More
2023-01-29 00:43
King-maker queen could call our neighbour’s pres Credit: PDIPIndonesia is a republic, though that’s hard to believe when a queen will decide who’s likely to be the… Read More
2023-01-26 07:11
Sorry business should be sooner and sincereWhen is a purge a genocide? When a young Australian researcher finds solid evidence that’s long eluded international scho… Read More
2023-01-26 06:33
How an Australian freed an unfinished nation’s history Our relationships with Indonesia are usually measured through stories of terror and disaster, aid and trade, rarely anythi… Read More
2023-01-10 08:26
The searcher who cared and sharedJohn Darling making Lempad of Bali Through special visas Sandiago Uno wants access to the wallets of ‘digital nomads’, Gen Zedders wit… Read More
2022-12-21 01:24
Season’s Fearings Will it be safe for Christians this Saturday night in Indonesia? The signs of the festive season used to be plastic mistletoe and corflute Santas in shop… Read More
2022-12-18 02:57
The darling buds of Bali Bali is so unlike the rest of Indonesia it seems unmoored from the archipelago. Before the island was scarred b… Read More
2022-12-17 03:52
A tale of two cities Jakarta: Credit The Jakarta Post Jakarta is sinking up to 28 cm every year. This isn… Read More
2022-12-16 00:33
One law for us, another for them?Certificates, please. … Read More
2022-12-09 02:25
Lock your bedroom: The state is pervingTRAVEL WARNING: Don't do this in Bali without a certificateThe G 20 in Bali last month was a splendid success – and not just because… Read More
2022-12-06 00:34
Forgive thine enemies, let losers looseLOSERS WHO WIN: Prabowo Subianto (l) and Sandiaga Uno (Kompas) Americans will get to the ballot box in late 2024. Such is our… Read More
2022-11-28 02:18
A wristful of wrongsSafely home; … Read More
2022-11-20 08:00
Why wait for paradise? Enjoy now, die later As the end draws near and the dullness of suburbia hardens like arteries, retirement wakens old dreams. If only we’d been more adve… Read More
2022-11-18 03:15
How did Dag die? The Indonesian connection More than six decades after his plane crashed it remains the great Cold War mystery: Was UN secretary-general (1953-61)… Read More
2022-11-17 08:21
The city that throbs with fury Malang won’t stop grieving, defiantly and mess… Read More
2022-11-07 07:37
INDONESIA’S RICHES - TOO PRECIOUS TO EXPORT To the Europeans and before them the Arabs and Indians, the lure of the archipelago was resources and trade.That’s still the cas… Read More
2022-11-05 03:28
Sex, drugs and confusion Bali tourism is slowly picking up as Covid apparently retreats. The new threats are laws on drugs, religion and sex. All set for an Indonesian h… Read More
2022-10-13 06:51
The raging signs of troubled timesThe most widespread slogan stencilled on the Indonesian city’s walls, scrawled on posters, splashed on bedsheets… Read More
2022-10-10 05:53
The blasts that blew neighbours apart The Kuta memorial Credit The Conversation.The Bali bombings of two decades ago and remembered with anger and sadn… Read More
2022-10-07 03:26
Apes, fires and bans - jungle data politics Outsiders doing business in Indonesia are urged to be polite and follow cultural norms. That also goes for academics, a… Read More
2022-09-15 03:47
How China is muscling Indonesia Unlike Australians, Indonesians don’t fear war with China… Read More
2022-09-10 02:40
The courageous and inspiring inventor Fahmi Husein from UGM has passed away. A privilege to have told his story - read here: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/14650398… Read More
2022-09-05 03:13
Getting away with mid-air murder Studying in Europe was to be a highlight of Munir Said Thalib’s career. The voice of the Indonesian activist and forceful critic of… Read More
2022-08-19 06:57
Sex, lies – but no videotape In happier times - the public image of top cop Ferdy Sambo and his wife Putri Governments love distractions and there’s a doo… Read More
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