Meet David Metcalf
Meet David Metcalf, aka Dayak Dave, a photographer and author whose passion for Indonesia gives back to the people he...
History/Culture
The Christmas Spices of Indonesia
If you enjoy baking festive treats at home during the Christmas season, you may have noticed that imported foods such...
Georgius Everhardus Rumphius: From Hobby to Fame
She was called Rumphius in honour and remembrance of the first naturalist of Ambon. Her hull was painted yellow and...
Jakarta 100 Years Ago
Through the window of early photography, Scott Merrillees has brought the long lost world of Jakarta back to life in...
Indonesia Face To Face
Ivan Southall (1921-2008) was an Australian writer best known for young-adult fiction, but he also wrote seven books for adults,...
Women Power and Politics
As things stand, only one major country in Western Europe – you know, that bloc with good football,liberal values and...
Martha Christina Tiahahu – a Moluccan Heroine
This is Ambon in the early 80s of last century. The land we were going to build houses on was...
Islam in the Netherlands East Indies
Islam came to Indonesia by way of Malabar and Coromandel, the respectively south-western and south-eastern coasts of India, along the...
Terracotta Memories of the Majapahit Civilisation
As a writer, traveller, and art enthusiast, I’ve come to find Majapahit as probably one of the most romantic and...
How the Other Half Lived – Batavia in the 18th Century
Founded in 1619 on the smouldering remains of Jacatra, Batavia was meant to function as a depot for the produce...
Educating the Past
Indonesia’s historical baggage over the last century and a half means that as we tip headlong into this new fangled...
Modern Slavery
She was promised a well-paying job as a waitress-receptionist in Batam. The establishment, although Chinese-owned, was fully halal, so, no...
Vintage Home in East Java
The civilisation of Java boasts of intricately artistic traditional architecture that stands the test of time. But people often forget...
Where are all the Country Houses?
When it comes to ostentatious shows of wealth, no one does it better than the Europeans. Backed by generations of...
Chaiya
Little is known of the Sriwijaya Empire, a polity that in its prime spread its tentacles across much of Southeast...
The Sad Story of Pieter Erberveld
There are a number of versions to this story. Depending on the narrator, the good people of Batavia were saved...
Once Upon a Sinking City: The Perpetual Floods of Jakarta
It is said that in life only two things are certain: death and taxes. But if you live in Jakarta,...
Love, Sex, and Harmony: Bedtime Stories from the Heart of Java
Most of us have heard of India’s Kama Sutra and Tunisia’s Perfumed Garden. Every ancient agricultural society has its own...
Indonesian Heritage Society
Located on the 17th floor of Sentral Senayan 1, a square office tower next to the Sogo side of Plaza...
Thomas Stamford Raffles and The History of Java
If I were to ask you, who Stamford Raffles was, you would most likely answer: the founder of Singapore. In...
An Old Suburb and an Invasion
Tugu means memorial and memorial is an apt name for this old suburb up in North East Jakarta by the...