· August, 2005

Stories about Indonesia from August, 2005

Indonesia: Dutch scholarship

31 August 2005

A. Fatih Syuhud highlights StuNed (Studeren in Nederland), a scholarship programme that aims to contribute to the development of Indonesia through the strengthening of human resources in Indonesian organisations. Some 200 full scholarships are offered for professionals to follow master programmes, short courses or tailor made training, all conducted in...

Indonesia: Gus Dur for Christians

  29 August 2005

Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid (aka Gus Dur), an influential Muslim cleric, has made a stand against the anti-Christian activities of violent Muslim group Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders’ Front).

29 August 2005

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is being pressed to convict masterminds of last year’s murder of acclaimed human rights campaigner Munir, who was killed by arsenic poisoning while on a September 6-7 Garuda flight from Jakarta to Singapore to Amsterdam. Though the suspects , Garuda Indonesia pilot and alleged intelligence...

Indonesia: New blog

29 August 2005

Former politics and economics website Laksamana.Net has reincarnated into an English blog named Paras Indonesia, though it retains the former URL. Editorially backed by six columnists, it attempts to present straight news that explains the dynamics and intricacies of Indonesia, like this one – Pressure on President as rupiah hits...

Indonesia: Narcissus

25 August 2005

Blogger Avianto stays on in Berlin, jobless, after finishing his Master of Science in Digital Media degree at ISNM in Lübeck, Germany. Re-reading “Understanding Media” by Marshall McLuhan which briefly touched on Narcissus, he blogs: “Human beings are so simple, we always have extensions when we communicate with the world…...

Indonesia: Abortion

25 August 2005

Blogger Ahmad SS Ramadhana estimates that some 2 million Indonesian female undergo abortion every year. Of the number, some 900 of them go through unsafe abortion procedure conducted by untrained personnel. Free sex is said to be one of the main causes of unwanted conception that led to abortion.

Indonesia: Flash memory

  24 August 2005

“Don't ever trust things you buy IN China…” that seems ot be the conclusion of three Indonesian bloggers (Waryaman Wardana blogs in both English and Indonesian) and two online resource sites. They each paid 100 yuan, excluding taxes, for a 4GB SONY flash memory card which turned out to be...

Brunei: Royal wedding bells

  24 August 2005

The Brunei-born Australian who blogs Macam-Macam (meaning all kinds) from Indonesia was watching Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, former World's Richest Man, divorcing his second wife and taking a new bride. “Unsurprisingly, no mention of the Sultan's marriage in the country's compliant national English daily, the Borneo Bulletin. Wouldn't want to let...

19 August 2005

Counter-culture blog IndCoup touches on Asian values and feels that the Malaysian government is control-obsessed. One of the old tricks seeing new spin is the “pernicious influence of corrupt Western culture“, this time manifesting itself in worm eating common in reality TV.

Indonesia: 6oth National day

17 August 2005

Indonesia celebrates its 60th National day today. Agam, a Thailand-based blogger who hails from the little town of Tapaktuan in Indonesia, wishes all the best to Indonesians in building a truly democratic nation, and to the people of Aceh, who have suffered in the decades-long conflict and the recent tsunami...

Indonesia: Mr Underground Movement

16 August 2005

Indonesian blogger Budi Rahardjo runs a blog called “Underground Movement”, or Gerakan Bawah Tanah in the Indonesian language, hence his nick Mr. GBT. He is actually the R&D director at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) near Jakarta, a Canadian-trained network security expert and an administrator of IdCERT. He was featured in...

Indonesia: Farewell to Arms

16 August 2005

FAREWELL TO ARMS. August 15 marks the day of signing of the final Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Indonesia government and Aceh Freedom Movement (GAM, Gerakan Aceh Merdeka), in which the separatists agree to disarm and accept amnesty, money and farmland. Ironically, peace finally dawned to replace the decades-old...

Images from Indonesia: Flag Seller

  9 August 2005

“Seller in a Market That Should Be a Lot Smaller by Now” by Shreyans A street vendor sells Indonesian flags for in Jakarta in preparation for the upcoming Indonesian National Day on August 17th.