November 3, 2015 edition

The halal logo welcomed guests entering Cafe Bayan at Hotel Santika Mataram in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) last week. No beer or other alcoholic beverages were on tap. An assortment of dishes on the menu came with the halal guarantee for Muslim visitors. The three-star inn holds the status of 'hilal one', meaning that the hotel is equipped with the minimum requirements for the basic necessities of a Muslim. "There are instructions on the direction of the qibla in the room ceiling, ablution places and a prayer hall for the congregation," said Reza Bovier, general manager of Hotel Santika Mataram.
The NTB government is aggressively promoting 'halal tourism' programs. The result is remarkable: NTB was selected as the World's Best Halal Honeymoon Destination and the World's Best Halal Tourism Destination at the World Halal Travel Summit & Exhibition (WHTSE) in 2015, which was held on October 19-21, 2015, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. "This is a victory for all of us. In the future, we must focus on developing Indonesia as a destination for Muslim tourists," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya told reporters two weeks ago.

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October 27, 2015 edition

Throughout his first year in office, President Joko Widodo faced a series of problems, some of them caused by his own political decisions, others by the turbulent global economy. This affected the public's level of satisfaction with his government, which according to a number of surveys, had declined significantly.
Jokowi himself admitted his dissatisfaction at what had been achieved so far, which he described as a period of consolidation. "The government has underachieved," said the President in a special interview with Tempo at the State Palace in Jakarta last week. It was exactly one year since he and Vice President Jusuf Kalla were sworn in by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

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October 20, 2015 edition

On his way to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said's cellular phone rang. An aide of President Joko Widodo was calling with important news. That very morning, on Tuesday two weeks ago, the President summoned Sudirman to the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Sudirman cancelled his flight without even knowing what they would discuss.
Upon arriving at the Palace, Sudirman headed straight to Jokowi's office. "Sudirman was surprised to see Jim Bob there," said one energy and mineral resources ministry official with knowledge of the meeting last Tuesday. Jim Bob, of course, is the nickname of James R. Moffett, chairman of Freeport-McMoRan, the parent company of Freeport Indonesia. The energy ministry official said Moffett had arrived at the Palace in the morning. Flying in on a private jet, he arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport at 7:30am.

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October 13, 2015 edition

Although Sofyan Djalil, Indonesia's minister of national development planning, rushed to Tokyo on Sunday evening, September 27, he failed to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Japanese leader was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Instead, on Tuesday at the end of September, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga met with Sofyan. The envoy bore news from President Joko Widodo: the Indonesian government had made a decision regarding the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project. However, since the government preferred a fully business-to-business arrangement that does not involve any state funding, Indonesia would forgo the Japanese proposal. China's offer seemed more suitable.

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October 6, 2015 edition

Joshua Oppenheimer*
When The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence were released, I had high hopes that these two films would be useful for the reconciliation process in Indonesia. With The Act of Killing, I wanted to invite the audience to see a history that is different from what we read in the school textbooks. With The Act of Killing, I wanted us to deconstruct the New Order's black propaganda that justified the mass killings in 1965 and even celebrated them as being heroic.

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September 29, 2015 edition

The positive trend on digital economics has caught the attention of President Joko Widodo. This lucrative business has been expanding in the past few years and is expected to continue growing in line with the increasing numbers of Internet users with their smart-phones. The Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA) recorded at least US$12 billion worth of online commerce in 2014. This has led the President to urge Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara to prepare the necessary steps to ensure Indonesia can benefit from the rapid growth of online businesses.
Rudiantara himself is optimistic that digital transcations in Indonesia can reach US$137 billion or eight to nine percent of national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020. "We must establish the rules of the game so Indonesia can benefit from it," he said. Rudiantara shared his views on this new economic phenomenon with Tempo reporters Akbar Tri Kurniawan and Ursula Florence at his residence in Jakarta last week. Excerpts:

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September 22, 2015 edition

Satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) downloaded by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) was shocking. A large amount of forested areas in Riau which had seen forest fires over the past three years are located in concession areas held by large companies.
One of them is Satria Perkasa Agung, which is affiliated with Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Groupthe parent company of the largest group of paper companies in Indonesia, and an umbrella for the Sinar Mas Group. "In 2014 alone, the licensed controlled forest area of Satria Perkasa covered 1,000 hectares," said Riko Kurniawan, Director of Walhi in Riau, last week. This is about 2.5 percent of total forested area in Riau which burned down last year. This company's licensed area in Serapung village, Kuala Kampar, Pelalawan Regency, has again caught fire, along with another 4,000 or so hectares of peat land.

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