The Betawi – A Look at the History, Culture and Cuisine
Nowadays Kemang is a favourite residential area of foreigners, and a trendy hangout hotspot with a wide range of restaurants,...
Corruption and Mismanagement in the Times of the VOC
The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) was established in 1602. The company was initially granted a 21-year...
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jakarta Traffic?
In Jakarta, there appears to be no discernible pattern for the traffic. One expat shares his observations about the city's...
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Healthcare
Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. Who hasn’t heard and probably used...
Kecipir: An E-Commerce Site for Organic Food in Indonesia
There are three key elements to consider when making the choice of whether to buy organic food in Indonesia: health,...
Opinion: To Protect Indonesia’s Remaining Forests, Indigenous People Need a Seat at the Table
Imagine the island of Java in the 1850s. Its lowlands and valleys sparsely populated, dotted with villages, sawah and stands...
Deforestation: Loggers Not to Blame
Loggers, the big logging companies that is, are no longer contributing to deforestation in Indonesia. The reason: the Decree of...
Menteng Pulo: Field of Honour
The most astonishing experience when entering the Netherlands Field of Honour Menteng Pulo (Menteng Pulo Ereveld) is the silence. Just...
Honey Bee Honey: Beekeeping in Cibubur
Beekeeping, or apiculture (Latin: apis ‘bee’), has been practiced in Egypt for over 4,000 years. And collecting honey from wild...
Could Accountability in Sustainable Oil Palm Prevent Further Forest Fires?
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Green Commodities Programme (GCP) are working with oil palm stakeholders to ensure this sector’s...
The Outdoor Museum of Taman Prasasti – a Window to the Past
We take a trip to the Taman Prasasti cemetery in Jakarta, where Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles’ wife, along with many...
Second-hand Furniture Shopping
REDUCE the consumption of fresh raw materials REUSE anything that is not terminally damaged RECYCLE waste materials into new products...
Indonesia’s War on Drugs
Nearly all UN members have endorsed the 1961, 1971 and 1988 conventions on the prohibition of the main illegal recreational...
Development Vs Indigenous People and the Environment
Over the past 50 years, the name of the region of Papua has been changed several times from Netherlands New...
West of the South-Eastern Islands
Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) is one of Indonesia’s 34 provinces. Wedged between Bali and the tiny island of Komodo, it...
Forest Mapping will Help the Indigenous
To know the lie of the land is an essential ingredient for travellers, and for anyone dealing with land tenure,...
The Hidden Island of Savu
On his first voyage to the South Pacific, Captain James Cook dropped anchor at Savu, an island that did not...
Indonesia’s Contribution to the Mitigation of Global Warming
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties, 20th Session (UNFCCC COP 20) was held in...
Capitalism vs The Climate
We are entitled to look back at 2014 with some pride. Recent achievements include democratic elections where the old political...
Desolation at the Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta
More than twenty years ago, I went to Ragunan Zoo quite often with my children. It made for a pleasant...
Java’s First Photographer: Kassian Cephas (1845-1912)
The first rather rambling title for this article ran nearly three lines as it tried to convey that Kassian Cephas...