Telkom could lose its investment in Tiphone Mobile Indonesia, a company on the verge of bankruptcy. New problems raise back suspicions over a peculiar transaction made seven years ago, involving the Sinar Mas Group. 

Yopie Hidayat (Contributor)

Issues on COVAX meeting, Non-Alignment Movement ministerial meeting, and G20 Sherpa meeting.

The Bangka Belitung High Court, citing anti-SLAPP law, acquits six residents of Sungailiat after having been found guilty for demanding their right to live free from air pollution. It is a legal precedent to protect environmental activists.

Carmel Budiardjo loudly demanded human rights justice when it was difficult for people in Indonesia to raise their voices. A consistent human rights activist until the day she died.

Tempo selects new leaders in digital transformation amid Covid-19 Pandemic period.

Below are excerpts from an interview with Sung Y. Kim, new United States Ambassador to Indonesia. Ambassador Sung Kim was born in Seoul to South Korean parents. Having spent the majority of his diplomatic career in Asia, he has a deep understanding of the region. This is his first interview with the local media since his arrival in Jakarta last June. He discussed vaccine assistance (to Indonesia), the weapon system procurement as well as cooperation for mitigating climate change issues.

BNPB responds to Questionable Quarantine report.

Cartoon: Yuyun Nurrachman

President Joko Widodo cancels the plan to allow individuals to pay for vaccinations, but retains the commercial vaccination program for corporations. The health minister must have the courage to say no.

Maxime Rodinson is an atheist. But he is not one to shut himself off with arrogance as do the ‘new atheists’. He sees that “…Muhammad did really experience sensory phenomena translated into words and phrases and that he interpreted them as messages from the Supreme Being.”

Sacrificial goats wear masks put on by the trader selling them in Pucang Sawit, Solo, Central Java, Sunday, July 11. The mask-wearing goats are part of the marketing gimmick, as well as to encourage people doing activities outside their homes to wear a mask during the emergency public activity restrictions or PPKM./Antara/Maulana Surya

SOUTHEAST Asia has faced numerous human rights violations and abuses, ranging from the worst crimes against the Rohingya and other religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar to extra-judicial killings in the Philippines under President Duterte’s administration. Many enforced disappearances have also occurred across the region, along with violence against human rights and democracy defenders, attacks on freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, and some other incidents. 

It does not mean the region has no institution that addresses human rights issues. Since 2009, member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have had the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights or AICHR. But critics said this body has been ineffective and ‌incapable of protecting human rights in the region. 

To commemorate the International Human Rights Day on December 10, TEMPO TALKS presents Yuyun Wahyuningrum, the representative of Indonesia to AICHR who will explain about human rights problems in the region and how her organization addresses the issue on TEMPO TALKS