There is a story about a Bedouin living far from Damascus, in the interior of Syria, who was disappointed when he rode a train for the first time. "I'm not satisfied," he complained to his friend. "The ticket was expensive, but the journey ended too quickly."

The news came to Joey Alexander over breakfast at his home in Connecticut, USA, in mid-December. Jason Olaine, the producer of Joey's Motema Music-released My Favorite Things, told the young prodigy that the album had been nominated for a Grammy. "I tried to stay calm and pray. It was an incredible blessing," Joey wrote in an e-mail to Tempo, recalling the moment.

Hiromi Kano slowly walks over to a rebab (two-stringed bowed gamelan instrument). "This is one of my favorite instruments of the gamelan. It has a very unique sound," she said Friday two weeks ago.The bespectacled woman sat on the carpet in a room on the second floor of the Mojosongo Subdistrict office in Solo. With deft strokes, she draws a small bow across the strings, and a low, almost moaning sound follows.

The US-ASEAN Summit held on February 15-16 in Sunny-lands, California, set the tone for an enhanced economic cooperation between the United States and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The first day of the summit was spent discussing trade and economics, with the theme 'Promoting an Innovative, Entrepreneurial ASEAN Economic Community'.

Palm giant Astra Agro Lestari, Indonesia's biggest agribusiness firm by value, has signed the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP), joining five other major palm producers in promising to stop cutting down trees.

Three-years of determined effort on the part of the Indonesian Judges' Discussion Forum is starting to bear fruit two weeks ago, the Expert Council at the House of Representatives (DPR) delivered a bill on the Office of Judges to the DPR's Legal Affairs Commission.

A one-on-one meeting between Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil and businessman Sandiaga Salahudin Uno took place on January 31 under the media's radar. Oddly enough, no one was aware of the mayor's agenda that day. The two met at the mayor's official weekend residence. During the meeting that lasted an hour-and-a-half, the two men talked about the plan to modernize 37 traditional markets in Bandung.

HIS name came up after the Jakarta government announced it would raze down the Kalijodo neighborhood because it stood in the middle of a green zone and because many of its occupants were unscrupulous figures. One particular figure stood out: Abdul Aziz, known as the 'King of Kalijodo', who decided to go to the authorities and express his disapproval on the attempts to regulate the biggest, low-level entertainment district in the capital city.

There is no strong argument to oppose the Jakarta city government's plan to restore Kalijodo as a green zone. For decades, people have illegally occupied the area along the Angke river and the eastern flood canal in North Jakarta.

THE murder charges against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan have been suspended by the district attorney. The court hearing, which was supposed to be held last Tuesday at Bengkulu District Court, was canceled. The Attorney-General Office (AGO) withdrew the charges a week after documents containing the KPK investigator's case were submitted to the court.

Reject the Revision of the Oil and Gas and the Mineral Resources and Coal Laws

Various traditional and cultural rituals in Indonesia can be quite expensive to carry out. Among the people of Toraja in South Sulawesi, for example, one traditional ceremony can cost billions of rupiah. Getting out of such rituals is not easy, although many communities around the country are determined to let go of certain traditional requirements that can often impoverish them, such as the villagers of Borokanda, at Ende Lio, Flores.

ENERGY
Fuel-Stealing Rampant in Java

IT has been a month since Freeport Indonesia offered its shares, and the government has yet to respond. One of the reasons, according to Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, is that the government needs to evaluate the nation's overall financial state.

A young woman stood up after a waitress gave her the code. Lena, as we will call her, approached Tempo, who had visited Wisma Adem in Kalijodo, North Jakarta, two weeks ago. She left the corner of the caf, which looked more like a showroom, where Lena and nine other women sat and waited for guests to arrive. "Come, let's go downstairs," she said.

This year, Indonesia and India mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. However, the ties between the two nations have existed much longer, predating the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of India. These connections span social, cultural, religious, economic, and trade aspects. But do those close ties of the past have any bearing on the present relationship? Why is there no direct flight between the capitals of the two countries?

Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Sandeep Chakravorty, shares his views on this matter at TEMPO TALKS.