THE government should pay extra attention to the current drop in global oil prices. Decision makers in the economic sector should not be alarmed by the declining price of this 'black gold'. They should see it as a temporary trend and anticipate its negative consequences.

Sixty years have passed, seven administrations have come and gone, but not much has changed for illegal migrant workers in Nunukan, North Kalimantan.

As head honcho of state-owned Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Sofyan Basir is understandably in a hurry to reach his goal of adding another 35,000 MW to the national power grid.Appointed to his job one year ago, he knows it isn't going to be easy to improve PLN's troubled finances and ensure that the nation no longer suffers from power blackouts. Whatever steps he takes, Sofyan should remember one important thing: It is better to be safe than sorry.

The transportation ministry should stop dragging its feet and start revalidating its data of fishing vessels. The sea transport directorate-general's feigned oblivion only triggers suspicions that it may be protecting corrupt officials.

THE prohibition of application-based ojeks and taxis was revoked amid public outcry and the intervention of President Joko Widodo, who called it a hastily implemented ban. Too rigid in applying regulations, Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan also made himself look uncaring to the city's dire need for proper public transportation system when he banned these popular modes of transport.

He passed away two weeks ago at the age of 79 in the country he loved so well. Scholar Benedict R. O'G. Anderson became an important part of Indonesia's modern history. One of his best-known academic contributions is his study on the September 30 (G30S) movement titled A Preliminary Analysis of the September Movement, or better known as the Cornell Paper. Along with a number of academics at Cornell University in the United States, among them Ruth McVey, Anderson concluded that the incident was not a coup by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) but an internal conflict within the Indonesian Army.