Women's participation in politics in Indonesia is still low. The number of female legislators in the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2014-2019 term is only 97, or 17.32 percent of the total number of parliamentarian seats. This is what is making Indonesia's legislature and policymaking not pro-women and children.

HISTORY has proven that communism is unable to mature in most societies. Currently, only a few countries still practice the ideology, with some adjustments. For instance, Vietnam adopted capitalism in 1986 through their Doi Moi policy. China, too, has slipped in democratic principles into its government.

Severe Punishment for Sex Offenders

Efforts to maintain investor confidence in this republic often seem arbitrary in nature. Ironically, this amateurish approach is being used at a time when the government is busily campaigning to entice foreign businesses to invest in Indonesia. Hopes of large numbers of foreign investors coming will be for nothing.

RIDWAN Bae and I Ketut Sudikerta had to wait outside the entrance to Setya Novanto's villa at Mulia Resort, Nusa Dua Bali last Tuesday. The chairmen of Golkar's Southeast Sulawesi and Bali chapters wanted to meet their host, the incoming Golkar Party chairman. Setya was doing the rounds, greeting all the guests who were paying him a visit. Not all were able to enter, some were forced to queue up outside the villa's entrance. Two people close to Setya, Nurul Arifin and Roem Kono, were acting as visitors' guides.

Muhammad Syafi'i has had a hectic month. As chairman of the special committee formed to draft a new antiterrorism bill, he has been holding a slew of discussions and seminars. This week, the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) lawmaker scheduled a two-day seminar to gather feedback from experts. "We're searching for material to start a discussion with the government," Syafi'i said last week.

State Electricity Company (PLN) CEO Sofyan Basir is once again in hot water, this time for his decision to call off an ongoing power tender process. Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry believes Sofyan's decision will slow down the 35,000-megawatt project the government is set to launch.

President Joko Widodo referred to South Korea as a 'strategic partner' last week in a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye. The state visit was held to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Joint Strategic Partnership to Promote Friendship and Cooperation in the 21st Century.

We have so many wonderful be-ed words in English and this song features three of them. 'Beguiled' is an old English word formed from adding be- and -ed to the French word guile (deceit), to mean 'lured', 'charmed'. 'Bewitched' adds be- and -ed to the word 'witch', to mean 'put under a spell'. The creation of this wonderful word is often attributed to Shakespeare, although he may have merely popularized it. (Shakespeare did coin at least two other be-ed words, though; 'besmirched' from 'smirch' meaning 'stain', and 'bedazzled'.) 'Bewildered' is made from the word 'wilder', an old verb meaning 'to lose your way', and with which we are familiar from the word 'wilderness'. 'Bewildered' is to be overcome by losing your way, and thus, hopelessly confused.

It has been more than six months since devastating forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan caused the annual havoc not only in Indonesia but also in neighboring Singapore and parts of Malaysia. There were loss of life, health hazards and massive environmental degradation.

His sideburns and mustache are unkempt. He prefers wearing hats inside out, and favors faded jeans and t-shirts. This is Dwi Martono, who looks very much the painter that he is.

FOR Fify Manan, commuting between Jakarta and Georgia in southern United States, is probably like other Indonesians traveling between Jakarta and Yogyakarta or Surabaya. Every month, this 51-year old president and CEO of the Formcase Group, which designs, manufactures and markets modern office furniture, divides her time between those two cities in Indonesia and Atlanta, Georgia.

LAST March, Mustafa Ali Haji was once again chosen as Bulgaria's grand mufti, reinstating him as the highest Muslim leader in the country. This Balkan country's muftiate is today made up of 21 areas, each led by a regional mufti. According to the National Statistics Institute in Bulgaria, almost 10 percent of its 7.3 million population are Muslims. As such, this former communist country has set a new record for a Balkan country and in Europe, as a nation with the fastest-growing Islamic community after the 1989 fall of the its communist regime.

Minister for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Yohana Susana Yembise, 58, cannot afford to take it easy yet, even though Law No. 35/2014 is ready to be enacted. Better known as the Bill on Castration, this piece of legislation will soon be deliberated on at the House of Representatives (DPR).

'How profoundly you are cursed, O Granada!'

SWEDISH Ambassador to Indonesia, Marina Berg, arrived in Indonesia five years ago with a clear mission: to deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation between Sweden and Indonesia, particularly in the critical areas of sustainable development and the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, her commitment remained unwavering. The Sweden-Indonesia Sustainability Partnership, focusing on the sectors of energy, transport, digital technology, and health, has been actively progressing.

As her term came to an end in August, Marina Berg took the opportunity to share her valuable five years of work in Indonesia during a TEMPO TALKS session.