Tama Salim – When I was growing up in the 1990s, history was something to be memorized, not understood. Like most Indonesian schoolchildren of my generation, I was taught a single, sanitized version of the national past.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto is growing bigger. The Army (TNI AD) now has 21 Regional Military Commands (Kodam) from the previous 15 throughout Indonesia.

Ahead of Indonesia's 80th anniversary of independence, social media has been flooded with images of flags from the Japanese anime One Piece flying on houses and vehicles instead of the national red-and-white flag.

The Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) has expressed doubts over the credibility of the National Statistics Agency's (BPS) second-quarter economic growth figure of 5.12 percent, calling it an "anomaly" that does not reflect the real economic situation.

Speaking during a working meeting at the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IV in Jakarta, Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman said that the country has suffered losses amounting to 99.35 trillion rupiah due to adulterated rice (beras oplosan) circulating in the market.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that Indonesia's unemployment rate will reach 5 percent in 2025, the second-highest in Asia after China, which is projected to be 5.1 percent this year.

President Prabowo Subianto has insisted that Indonesia's economy is on the right track and that the government is achieving its goals, claiming that according to experts Indonesia's economic growth in the first half of 2025 was over 5 percent.

A spate of recent media reports about rampant extortion of foreign and domestic companies by so-called social or mass organisations (ormas) is hardily news for anybody familiar with running a business in Indonesia.

Most viewers have dismissed Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka's video monolog on youth's crucial role in realising the government's much touted vision of Golden Indonesia 2045 as overly flowery, lacking substance and an exercise in attention seeking.

While there has been considerable public discussion about the problem of online debt (pinjol) and the related problem of online gambling, there has been little said about the level of debt incurred by ordinary households who survive through credit from local shops (pintok), food stalls (pinwar) and neighbours (pintangga).

Sandro Gatra – When things are silent, the state should work. In an uproar, the state must explain. In an echoing silence however, the figure of 984 trillion rupiah revealed by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) as the value of transactions indicated as being corrupt throughout 2024, actually just leaves an irony: the state is silent.

Responding to a series of high-profile cases where judges have been bribed to acquit defendants, the Supreme Court (MA) has announced it will implement a Smart Panel for the automated appointment of judges using a robot or artificial intelligence (AI) system.

President Prabowo Subianto has again highlighted the "Indonesia Gelap" (Dark Indonesia) campaign that has gone viral on social media and was taken up by mass student protests across Indonesia in March. Prabowo claimed to be confused by people who call Indonesia dark saying he believes the opposite, that "Indonesia is bright".

Responding to growing public concern that the proposed revisions to the Indonesian Military law will herald a return to the military's dwi-fungsi that it enjoyed under the New Order dictatorship of former president Suharto, the TNI has tried to reassure the public by saying it does not want a return to dwi-fungsi because it's already "multi-functional".

There are widespread concerns over proposed revisions to the Indonesian Military Law (UU TNI) that could allow active TNI officers to become involved in business activities. Trade unions for example say that many employers already use the military to provide security for businesses and the direct involvement of active military officers will further threaten workers' rights.

A surprise inspection at the Lenteng Agung Market in South Jakarta earlier this month led to the discovery that one-litre government subsidised Minyakita cooking oil containers did not in fact contain one litre of oil.

Analysts have warned that the new Danantara sovereign wealth fund – which was launched with much fanfare by President Prabowo Subianto on Monday February 24 – faces challenges in winning investor trust given its governance structure.

Indonesia's corrupt government officials and politicians have good reason to cheer President Prabowo Subianto's latest call to crack down on graft given his conflicting statements and lack of any real action on fighting corruption since taking office in October.

According to the Labour Ministry, some 60,000 workers from around 50 companies were laid off (PHK) across a wide range of industries in the manufacturing sector in the first two months of 2025. Trade unions are warning that this figure could rise to as high as 150,000 by July.