Indonesia

As Indonesia prepares to elect its next president and vice president in February 2024, the issue of China’s growing influence and presence in the country has become a source of contention and controversy.  China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner and a major investor in various infrastructure projects, such as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway and the Batang Toru hydropower plant. However, …

TikTok, a popular video-sharing app, has become a new battleground for Indonesia’s presidential candidates, who are trying to attract young voters ahead of the February 14, 2024 election.  The app, which has around 99 million monthly active users in Indonesia, allows users to create and share short videos with music, filters, and stickers. The app also features live-streaming, interactive talks, …

Mary Jane Veloso, a 38-year-old Filipina domestic worker, was arrested in 2010 at the airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage. She was sentenced to death by firing squad in 2015, but was granted a last-minute reprieve after the Philippine government intervened.  Veloso has always maintained her innocence, claiming that she was duped by …

Indonesia has introduced a new law that will affect tourists who buy goods online from overseas sellers. The new law, which took effect on January 1, 2024, requires tourists to pay a 10 per cent sales tax on low value goods (LVG) that are shipped from abroad to Indonesia. The new law aims to protect local producers and consumers, and …

Indonesia’s residents have shown hostility and resistance against the arrival of more Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, who have fled persecution and violence in their homeland.  The residents have staged protests, attacked shelters, and demanded the deportation of the refugees, who they perceive as a burden and a threat to their communities.  The negative attitude of the residents towards the Rohingya …

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, one of the two stratovolcanoes that make up Mount Lewotobi in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, erupted again on Monday, January 2, 2024, sending a plume of ash and smoke up to 10 kilometers high.  The eruption was the latest in a series of eruptions that have occurred since December 23, 2023, when the volcano first showed …

Indonesia will impose a new tax on e-cigarettes from Jan. 1, adding to an excise tax to help curb vaping, the finance ministry said on Saturday. Southeast Asia’s largest economy has set the additional tax at 10 percent of the excise tariff for electronic cigarettes, which are devices that heat a liquid containing nicotine to create a vapor that users …

Hundreds of Indonesian workers staged a protest on Tuesday outside a Chinese-owned nickel plant in Central Sulawesi province, where a furnace explosion killed 13 people and injured dozens more on Sunday. The workers demanded justice and compensation for the victims, as well as better safety standards and working conditions at the plant, which is part of the Indonesia Morowali Industrial …

On December 25, 2023, a massive explosion rocked a nickel plant in Morowali, Indonesia, killing 13 people and injuring 38 others. The blast was caused by a gas leak that ignited a fire in the furnace area of the plant, which produces nickel pig iron, a raw material for stainless steel.  The plant is owned by a joint venture between …

Millions of Indonesians rely on rideshare apps such as Gojek and Grab for their daily transportation, delivery, and other services. However, the workers behind these apps face low wages, long hours, and uncertain legal protection, as the country’s labor laws have not kept pace with the rapid growth of the digital economy. According to a recent report by the International …