Take an ambitious businessman drunk on being so close to power, a media baron who uses his political acquaintances to strengthen his own newspaper’s position, the highly idealistic radical who talks of empathy with the common worker with his middle class friends all the while telling said workers their leaders know best, and a civil [...]

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At first sight Bengkulu seems an odd place for a trading post. It’s situated on the west coast of Sumatra, maybe three quarters of the way down the mammoth island. Head due west and you won’t hit landfall until north of Zanzibar in West Africa. For the East India Company, that early London based multinational [...]

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Indonesia’s Most Loved Beer and the History Behind the Label A holiday spent in Indonesia most likely revolves around a bottle of Bintang. It is a household name and the perfect thirst-quencher to help one survive the tropical heat of this archipelago. For years now Bintang has always been a favourite amongst locals and foreigners, [...]

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Nearly half a millennium before the world, slowly getting connected by grainy black and white TV images, was entranced by antics of Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong and various cute animals in astronaut outfits there was another race that captured peoples’ attention. Instead of the moon though and the vanity of nations it was spices and [...]

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An old photograph of ‘Indo’ girls (mixed European and Indonesian) in Batavia The early days of the expatriate in South East Asia, back in the 16th and 17th centuries were fraught with danger and the unknown. Never knowing when a passing ship would call in and take them home and consumed with a fear they [...]

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Zheng He is renowned today as a great explorer, honoured by both Chinese and Muslims throughout South East Asia. But while his name may be familiar, details of his exploits remain less so. In the early 15th century, while Europe was slowly emerging from the Dark Ages and Native Americans were unsullied by claimants to [...]

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Gambling, like prostitution and corruption, is an age-old vice that is part of Indonesia’s culture. Despite being criminalized in the 1970s, the gaming industry is flourishing, thanks to protection from crooked politicians, military officers and police receiving a cut of the profits. From maids buying Rp.1,000 black market lottery tickets, to Balinese betting passionately on [...]

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Jogjakarta and its Hill of Stones Anyone with but the flimsiest knowledge of Indonesia will know the pivotal role Jogjakarta has played. In culture, in rebellion, in battling invaders the Kraton has been at the heart of the Javanese story. And Stamford Raffles is a man forever linked with Singapore despite the fact he spent [...]

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  As Indonesia prepares to celebrate 66 years of independence it is an appropriate moment to turn the clock back 560 years to the middle of the 15th century, before any European power had lain claim to parts of the archipelago, and marvel at the impact a dozen islands in the east of the archipelago [...]

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S. Sudjojono, 1913-1986 One of the ultimate tools of revolution is art. So, too, revolution ideas often stimulate revolutionary visuals – posters and icons that embody the aspirations of those struggling against the old order. Art also serves the victorious in their search for iconic images that embody the principles of the revolution. The Father [...]

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