OPINION

A baffling and difficult decision was made by the Indonesian Government. On March 24, 2023, through the National Food Agency (Bapanas), the Government instructed the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to import two million tons of rice, by the end of December 2023. The first 500 thousand tons must be imported immediately to strengthen the government’s rice reserves (CBP). This decision was made at a “Staples Availability and Preparation for the Eid Al-Fitr 1444 H Population Movement” meeting with President Joko Widodo.

I have been writing columns for this paper regarding the recent developments in diplomatic circles by Western leaders attempting to influence Beijing. They see President Xi Jinping as a potential peace advocate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, an ugly war that has been going on for over a year. 

The recent decision by FIFA to revoke Indonesia’s status as host for the upcoming U-20 World Cup is not only a harsh lesson for Indonesian politicians, but it is also a huge let down for Indonesia’s soccer fans not to mention the country’s U-20 team which had to be disbanded after three long years of preparation. 

It has been thirteen years since Law 8/2010 on Countermeasure and Eradication of Money Laundering Crimes (TPPU Law) came into effect. Recently, a discourse about a suspicious transaction report (STR) of IDR 349 trillion came to light at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), particularly the Directorate-General of Taxes and the Directorate-General of Customs and Excise. 

In 1900, during the Dutch colonial rule, the top 10 percent of families held 43 percent of the total wealth, while the bottom 50 percent of families held just 18 percent. Before Indonesia gained its independence, during the second World War in early 1940s, income inequality was getting sharper.

As if all things were planned previously, the visit of China’s President Xi Jinping to Moscow and meeting with his counterpart the Russian President’s Vladimir Putin was recently followed by the visit of the US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to Canada, visiting PM Justin Trudeau and First Lady Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.

Halal certification in Indonesia has been showing positive yet sluggish development. Over the past five years, since the establishment of the Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) in October 2017, roughly 750 thousand products have been halal-certified. Every year, an average of 250 thousand products, food particularly, have been halal-certified. This is a significant leap compared to 100 thousand products per year before 2017. 

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir came under a spotlight after a massive fire broke out at the Pertamina Plumpang fuel depot. The Minister is said to have too many activities irrelevant to his duties as the SOEs Minister. 

The characteristics of rice production in the past 50 years have not changed much. Even if there was a change, it was insignificant. First, rice farming is cultivated by farmers on small plot of land. In the 1970s, two-thirds of rice farmers cultivated less than half a hectare of land (Geertz 1963, Timmer 1975). Currently, according to the 2018 Inter-Census Agricultural Survey, 9.8 million (75 percent) of the 13.1 million rice farming households own less than 0.5 hectares of land. They are known as smallholder farmers.

PT Wijaya Karya has finally been announced as Indonesia’s most reliable EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) company for electrical installation. Wika was named the “Best of the Best” EPC company last week. 

A few days ago, there was a report in CNN Indonesia, revealing that a total of 353 lecturers of Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, representing 14 Faculties, have signed a letter of protest to its President, objecting to the proposed conferring of an “Honorary Professor” to someone lacking a university degree.