Indonesia

Indonesia takes pride in its national motto ‘unity in diversity.’ For its ethnic Chinese minorities, however, this phrase rings hollow.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability of transgender individuals in Indonesia as measures to slow the spread of the virus have jeopardized industries that provide regular income for many in the community, such as salons, street performance, and sex work. At the same time, the transgender community has continued to suffer from an “epidemic […]

Every year, we throw away about one-third of the world’s food. This is the equivalent of USD 936 billion, more than the Netherlands’ entire GDP.1 Most of this food is dumped in landfills where it decomposes and produces greenhouse gases (GHG). In 2010, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that about 3 percent […]

In its 1993 report, the World Bank classified Indonesia as one of the “Asian Miracles”[1]. Indonesia was on the track towards industrialization and development. It had begun to transition from agriculture and raw commodities to manufacturing. In 2000, Indonesia’s computer export was twice the value of its palm oil export[2]. Fast forward to today, and […]

The parallels between May 9th and November 9th are uncanny. Six months ago, I witnessed a man gain the U.S. presidency thanks, in part, to rising racial resentment. Now, I am watching as one of the most inspirational political leaders from my home district of Jakarta, Indonesia, is robbed of his power by a similarly […]

Indonesia’s forest is burning. Around 8,100 square miles of land, almost equivalent to the size of New Jersey, is in flames. According to the World Resource Institute, the daily emissions from the forest fires since the first week of September are larger than the average daily emissions produced by the entire U.S. domestic economy. Forests […]