Ghostbuster Busted
Of all the silly programs on Indonesian TV, one of the most idiotic was Pemburu Hantu (Ghost Hunters), which involved...
Kenneth Yeung
Unlucky Charms
It is widely believed in Indonesia that daggers, polished stones and fabrics can be imbued with magical powers that will...
Car Theft Hoaxes
“There’s a new method of car theft,” a colleague breathlessly told me last week. “Thieves throw an egg at your...
In Sickness and in Wealth
Indonesia aims to implement a system of universal healthcare by 2019, but that won?t stop the country?s richest citizens from...
Money Politics
Vote buying is risky business, especially for candidates who fail to get elected and cannot repay their debts. Yet the...
God Help Us
With religion being compulsory in Indonesia, the country is fertile ground for scammers seeking easy money under the guise of...
Phantom Pregnancies
Getting married and having children are essential rites of passage in Indonesia. So great is the pressure to produce progeny,...
Meet Dennise Rao
Meet Dennise Rao, one of the administrative, creative and inspirational forces at Jakarta International School. When did you come to...
Stealing Democracy from the People
I first experienced an Indonesian election in May 1997. I was staggering home drunk from Blok M, South Jakarta, at...
Cheating on the Buses
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Transjakarta busway: a public transport system beset by financial scams. Even before...
Physicians’ Heal Thyself
From pointless prescriptions to counterfeit medicines, the treatment of illnesses in Indonesia can be a minefield. A few weeks ago,...
Big Phishing in a Big Pond
As the world’s second biggest source of cyber attacks, Indonesia is prone to phishing, which occurs when a scammer or...
Meet Ashraf: the Asylum Seeker from Iran
Meet Ashraf. That?s not his real name. And he?s not your typical expat, being an Iranian asylum seeker who calls...
Meet WenFei
Meet WenFei, a mainland Chinese woman who manages a massage, spa and beauty salon in Jakarta’s Chinatown district of Glodok....
We Haven’t Learned a Thing
It is almost a year since I wrote my first Scams column for Jakarta Expat and there is no shortage...
Mystery Meats
What’s a Jewish dilemma? Pork at half price. That was one of the first jokes I heard during a visit...
Last Chance to See?
An unspoiled island off the northern coast of Sulawesi is scheduled for partial destruction despite a Supreme Court ruling that...
Taxi Troubles
New arrivals to Jakarta are often warned to be on the lookout for taxi scams. The truth is that cab...
Lifesaving Initiatives Against Methanol
With Christmas and New Year almost here, plenty of people will be taking the opportunity to engage in some festive...
Preying on Prostitutes
A churchgoing keyboardist posed as a playboy and robbed at least 24 high-class prostitutes in four cities, until he made...
Faking It on the Phone
A slow-witted colleague came to me with a request for help last week. He had telephoned a sex chat line...