The government and event organizers are preparing to bring back live music performances in times of a pandemic. It has been a long and winding road towards the revival of tourism.

The week’s news summary

The Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group is using the prospect of marriage to lure in new female members. One woman tells how she nearly went to Syria after being promised marriage and being indoctrinated with the ideology of ISIS.

Residents of Kotabaru, South Kalimantan, discovered a bird identified as pelanduk kalimantan, or the black-browed babbler. This species has not been seen since it was first discovered in the 1840s.

Alleged trading of postings within the Villages Ministry shows a major flaw in the practice of good governance. Placement of politicians in ministries are most often problematic.

State Health Care and Social Security Agency’s (BPJS Kesehatan) CEO Ali Ghufron Mukti revealed that his agency was still in the red with a deficit of Rp6.3 trillion as of December 2020. The increased premiums starting last January coupled with the decline in the use of BPJS services during the pandemic are expected to help reduce the deficit. Given the pandemic as a non-natural disaster, the government has borne coronavirus treatment costs. Ghufron said that to increase public’s participation, BPJS Kesehatan was exploring an innovative funding mechanism via cooperation with philanthropic institutions with the hope to help fund prospective National Health Insurance-Healthy Indonesia Card (JKN-KIS) holders or even assist settle arrears. This way, the entire population will eventually have access to health care.

Cartoon: Yuyun Nurrachman

Julia Suryakusuma received an award from the Kingdom of Belgium for her struggle to voice human rights through writing. She is uncomfortable with being called a feminist.

Yopie Hidayat

(Contributor)

Readers’ aspiration on the future of Tempo digital and inputs regarding legislation corruptions in the House of Representatives.

Flesh, eyes, skin—the physical and the psychic—have shaped the language of racist violence. In Indonesia, too.

A Number of residents mourned over their relatives who were found dead due to flash floods in East Adonara, East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Tuesday, April 6. The flash flood that hit Adonara on Sunday, April 4 has caused dozens of people to die and forced hundreds to take refuge. Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra

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.