HEADLINE

It has been almost four years since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo revealed the grand plan to relocate Indonesia’s administrative capital from Jakarta to a greenfield site in East Kalimantan Province, on the island of Borneo in the Sepaku District of Penajam Paser Utara Regency, to be exact. That decision has stirred up controversy ever since, riven by debate between supporters and detractors over its benefits and drawbacks. In the meantime, the plan keeps lurching forward, like a car with failed brakes. 

The issuance of Government Regulation (PP) 26/2023 on the management of marine sedimentation products has sparked lively public debate, both mainstream and on social media. One of the controversies concerns article 9.2(d) which states that sea sand can be exported, provided that domestic needs have been met and regulatory requirements satisfied.

At a plenary meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board on May 10-24, 2023, President Sukarno’s 1960 “To Build the World Anew” speech, delivered at the United Nations General Assembly, was declared a Memory of the World (MoW). In that 122-minute oration, Sukarno offered Pancasila to the world as an alternative ideology.

Poverty reduction has always become not only the main target of various programs to improve people’s welfare, but also a political and economic issue, at the national and international levels. On the one hand, the Indonesian government is obliged to raise the welfare of the people, as mandated by the 1945 Constitution, but on the other, there are political interests to render poor people as mere “objects” of economic development, with the politicians as the policy makers. 

Indonesia has earned the unenviable reputation as a country with the one of the highest levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world, the lion’s share of which come from the energy sector – one still dominated by fossil fuels, particularly coal.

With a GDP of US$20.89 trillion in 2022, the United States of America (USA) is by far the world’s largest economy. It generates at least 20 percent of the global economic output. With such a significant economic size, needless to say, the US has tremendous influence on the global economy. When the US economy is growing strongly, the global economy tends to follow suit. Conversely, when the US economy is depressed, so is the global economy. In addition to GDP output, the US economy is also a major leader in global trade and investment. Even though its share in the global trade has begun to decline (overtaken by China), the US is still a dominant player. US investments are present in almost all parts of the world, making them a key part of the economy in most countries. 

Indonesia is back to hosting ASEAN 42nd Summit this year, its fourth since the first one in Bali in 1976. It is interesting to observe the country’s preparations, in assuming its chairmanship this time around. It is also important to note the meaning and impact of the outcomes of the highest policy-making body in ASEAN for Indonesia and the wider region. The Summit will see the gathering of heads of government/state of ASEAN member countries to discuss, reach consensus, declare and formulate concrete efforts to deal with strategic issues in the economic, social, cultural and security fields in ASEAN and beyond.

Sari (not her real name), who lives in a small village in Sambas (West Kalimantan) is just like everyone else who wants a better life for themselves and their family. However, her journey to realize her dream took a darker turn. 

There are two categories of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) -- official and illegal. The World Bank released a data in 2017 showing that there were 9 million Indonesians working abroad, but according to the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI) only 4.6 million were officially registered as PMI. And of the 4.4 million were illegal workers, 90 percent were victims of crime syndicates and mafia. The majority of those illegal workers went to work in the Middle East and Malaysia. 

Article 3 of the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (the Palermo Protocol) defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control of another person, for the purpose of exploitation which shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery servitude or the removal of organs.” 

Twenty-five years of reformasi in Indonesia (1998-2023) still leaves much to be desired in regard to law enforcement, particularly corruption eradication. Indonesia’s war against corruption has ebbed and flowed over years. In January this year, antigraft NGO Transparency International (TI) released its latest global showing Indonesia’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) dropping to 34 from 38 a year prior. As a result, the country’s global ranking fell from 96 to 110 (out of 180 countries surveyed).