NEWS reports about rampant deforestation in Indonesia often refer to alleged corruption, poor law enforcement and the greed of logging and palm oil interests. But sometimes, the reviled companies are also victims.
NEWS reports about rampant deforestation in Indonesia often refer to alleged corruption, poor law enforcement and the greed of logging and palm oil interests. But sometimes, the reviled companies are also victims.
IN JANUARY last year, when Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi announced that his office was working on the design of a new, nationally valid electronic identity card, many local netizens reacted negatively.
ON AUG 17, as Indonesians celebrated their independence day with a national holiday, rival television stations vied for viewers by airing local films related to nationalism and the independence struggle.
LONG-TIME observers of Indonesian politics and society usually have no difficulty regaling newcomers with stories about developments in the country that seem to make little sense. A recent one involves a long-running controversy over contaminated infant formula milk.
NO OTHER president has invested as much political capital in a national development programme. This assessment by Danareksa Research Institute’s chief economist Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa of a new economic blueprint launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on May 27 says it all.
The inability of the government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bridge the deep divisions between her populist government and its royalist opponents in the military and bureaucracy remains a major concern.
Prime Minister Yingluck has selected a competent economic team, but it is difficult for these technocrats to deliver on the new government's campaign promises without triggering inflation or hurting business.
The government has also been unable to resolve the ongoing insurgency involving ethnic Malay Muslim rebels in the south.
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My name is Dr Bruce Gale and I am a senior writer with the Singapore Straits Times. I studied at LaTrobe University (BA Hons) in Melbourne and later at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University (MA). My PhD thesis, which focussed on Malaysian political economy, was completed at the Malaysian National University (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) in 1987.
From 1988 to 2003 I was Singapore Regional Manager for the Hong Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
I have written several books and articles on Southeast Asian affairs, including Political Risk and International Business: Case Studies in Southeast Asia (Pelanduk Publications, 2007). Books on language include Mastering Indonesian: a guide to reading Indonesian language newspapers (Pelanduk Publications, 2008)