“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” – Abraham Lincoln- On National Education Day, May 2nd, Minister of Education and Culture, Mohammad Nuh, said: “The national exam plays only a little part in the country’s education system. The most important thing is to ensure [...]

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Indonesia’s historical baggage over the last century and a half means that as we tip headlong into this new fangled thing people call globalization, Indonesia’s educational infrastructure is struggling to catch up to the 1970s. Forget concepts like the Internet, creative thinking and meritocracy, many students are still being sat in lines to learn rote [...]

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Much of Indonesia’s seas are being “watched over” by friendly creatures whose underwater singing and dancing never cease to melt the human heart: some 30 species of cetaceans (whales and dolphins). North Bali’s whale watching industry is reported to generate about US$4.1 million per year, or about 40% of the incomes of local hotels in [...]

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 “White rice is lacklustre, lifeless, tasteless and irritating to prepare; brown rice is flavoursome, wholesome and easy to prepare”. Maud Grieve F.R.H.S. (1858-1941) – A Modern Herbal (pub. 1931) Every society has a staple food: my London upbringing revolved around potatoes, varieties such as King Edwards in winter for baking and Whites for salads. We [...]

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As a child, my nightmares weren’t like other children’s. They didn’t have monsters, ghosts, or terrifying creatures, instead, they came from the videos we saw in science class. It was images of acid rain, extinction of species, air pollution and other natural ills kept me up at night. It’s not surprising then that I grew [...]

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Little is known of the Sriwijaya Empire, a polity that in its prime spread its tentacles across much of Southeast Asia from Central Java to the narrow Thai peninsula. From its centre in Palembang, Sriwijaya controlled the strategically vital Melaka Straits, levying tolls on the vessels that traded between China and India. Long before business [...]

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Being an archipelago spanning 5,248 kilometres over three time zones, Indonesia has thousands of destinations to satisfy the curious traveller’s senses. But it’s easy to forget that if your daily life in Indonesia mostly consists of swimming from meeting to meeting in the traffic jams of Jakarta. If you’re like me, you’re probably guilty of [...]

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Tourist excursions to Indonesia’s West Papua province are often dreamt about and rarely undertaken. Those who do head to Papua usually congregate in the Baliem Valley, in Papua Province’s Highlands, or in Papua Barat’s northern Raja Ampat. In the Baliem, trekking is popular, as is climbing: Trikora is a popular peak, as is Puncak Jaya. [...]

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My wife Srie and I, normally resident in Indonesia, recently spent four months in Sydney where our son is studying. I’m British, and this was my fifth visit to Sydney and my seventh to Australia. My first reaction this time was “This is a nation of FOODIES!”. What a contrast to my first visit in [...]

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When you see a Kain Ikat you may think to yourself, “Hmm, that’s pretty. Maybe I’ll buy that for Mum.” If you stop and take a close look at one of these works of art, you’ll notice how extremely intricate they are, and if you take a time out to chat with Sharon Lumantobing, founder [...]

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Nielsen’s Southeast Asian Digital Consumer claims that Indonesia’s Internet penetration rate is at 21%, growing at 20% annually. Rama compared this to Singapore’s 67% which makes Indonesia’s adoption rate look very low, but consider the population numbers between the two countries, not to mention geographical differences. Indonesia had 237.6 million people in 2010 with an [...]

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