Do as You’re Told – An Artful Welcome to Bali
“It appears that each Balinese native, from the womb to the tomb is creative,” rhymed Noel Coward in his irreverent...
History/Culture
BALI–Before The Tourists Invaded
Traders-colonisers from the coast of Coromandel brought Hinduism to Java. The religion was adopted by the Majapahit kingdom in the...
Run to New York
The English, bless our little cotton buds, have always loved a gallant loser. Years of feeble cricket and football performances...
Not Losing Their Religion
How many people know there’s an Indonesian god at Jakarta’s oldest Chinese temple? And who knew the city’s oldest church...
Literary Works Capable of Change
Take an ambitious businessman drunk on being so close to power, a media baron who uses his political acquaintances to...
Bengkulu Blues
At first sight Bengkulu seems an odd place for a trading post. It’s situated on the west coast of Sumatra,...
‘Bintang, Anyone’?
Indonesia’s Most Loved Beer and the History Behind the Label A holiday spent in Indonesia most likely revolves around a...
Of Spice and Profit
Nearly half a millennium before the world, slowly getting connected by grainy black and white TV images, was entranced by...
Love In The East
The early days of the expatriate in South East Asia back in the 16th and 17th centuries were fraught with...
Zheng He, The Chinese Muslim Eunuch
Zheng He is renowned today as a great explorer, honoured by both Chinese and Muslims throughout South East Asia. But...
Uneasy Money
Gambling, like prostitution and corruption, is an age-old vice that is part of Indonesia’s culture. Despite being criminalized in the...
Treading in Jogjakarta’s Ancient History
Jogjakarta and its Hill of Stones Anyone with but the flimsiest knowledge of Indonesia will know the pivotal role Jogjakarta...
How Indonesia’ Spices Unrolled the Map of the World
As Indonesia prepares to celebrate 66 years of independence it is an appropriate moment to turn the clock back 560...
Art and Revolution
S. Sudjojono, 1913-1986 One of the ultimate tools of revolution is art. So, too, revolution ideas often stimulate revolutionary visuals...
Did You Know??
In 1602 eight early British expats were dropped off in what is now known as Banten Lama by the first...
The Origins of the Piggy Bank
In the west the Piggy Bank has long been a time-honoured rite of passage, a whimsical but didactic tool for...
Indonesia’ First Celebrity Artist
Raden Saleh Boestaman (c. 1807-1880) This well-known photo of Raden Saleh, Indonesia’s ‘first’ western-style painter was taken in 1870 when...
Staying in Town for the Holidays?
Let’s face it, Julia Roberts’ “Eat Pray Love” was just way too glib to get the old heart racing. An...
Gereja Sion
Back in the middle of the 17th century, Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta was one of Batavia’s hottest addresses. It was a...
Batavia – A Chinese Town Under Dutch Rule
No-one knows when the Chinese first hit what was to become Jakarta. Certainly, when the Dutch first arrived, in 1596,...