The Thin Light Blue Line
There are a number of things that I believe everyone should do before they die (other than “shout for help”...
History/Culture
A Decade of Jazz
The energy was high as I stepped onto the premises of Jakarta International EXPO Kemayoran, Jakarta. The 10th annual Java...
The Gamelan Group: All Nationalities, Ages and Motives Welcome
As Pak Parno threads his way through the gamelan, he claps his hands to guide the tempo and calls out...
For Japan: Our Sister
March 2011: In the streets of Jogjakarta some unconventionally dressed young Indonesian men and women carry boxes marked ?Jogja Care...
Siti the Dayak Dancer
Siti is an extraordinarily beautiful and determined young woman. Her story is one of courage and determination and a desire...
A Brief History of Tobacco
Tobacco was first cultivated in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes, from where it spread north and south till it covered...
Dangerously Nice: Kretek Cigarettes
I was a kretek (clove cigarette) smoker for almost two years. When I first started smoking clove cigarettes in Kalimantan...
Balinese Literature: A Moveable Feast
In understanding Balinese literature, we must start with a religion and mythology founded in India over 3,500 years ago. The...
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...
Ketut: the Hair and Beauty Stylist
Ketut is 27 years old and owns a local wedding and hair stylist salon in the back streets of Ubud,...
Nyoman the Organic Advocate
Abe-do Organic Warung, located 2 kilometres from Ubud, in Banjar Kutuh Kaja, was created a year ago with only three...
Melodies from Indonesia’s Far South: Sasando, the Palm Harp of Rote
If the definition of heaven is a strange but comforting melody telling stories of the timelessness of the human soul,...
Raising the Dead
It is an hour before dawn as I make my way up the gently sloping hill to the cemetery outside...
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,...
Alfred Wallace’ Great Adventure in Indonesia
Wallace?s dedication to research and his perseverance through rainforests in an era of head-hunters, poor medication and tropical diseases was...
A Bali Expat Aid Worker on Syria’ Frontline
John Bunnell, a resident of Bali for nine years, went to war-ravaged Syria as a logistician for two and a...
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...
Ubud’s Museum Mile for Art Lovers
Neka Art Museum Setting out on a Sunday in the slow season, an unexpectedly ideal day to visit museums, the...