Talking Indonesia

Indonesian football experienced its darkest day on 1 October, when more than 130 spectators were killed – including 35 children – after police fired tear gas into the crowd at the conclusion of a match between local rivals Arema Malang and Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang. Fans fleeing the tear gas, which police fired after some fans entered the playing field, were killed in the crush in stairwells and at exits that in some cases were locked or partially closed.

Other football leagues around the world held a moment’s silence in the wake of the tragedy as a mark of respect to the victims, in what was one of the worst football disasters globally in the history of the game. Within Indonesia, vigils have been held around the country for the fans who died at Kanjuruhan. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has asked a fact-finding team to deliver a report into the disaster within a month, and the country’s professional leagues have been suspended. The police’s decision to use tear gas has been almost universally criticised.

How we can account for the police decision to use tear gas in a sold-out Kanjuruhan Stadium, and what investigations and accountability are likely after the death of so many fans? What has the game-day experience been like for football fans in Indonesia, and what will be required to ensure that the events of Kanjuruhan are never repeated?

In the wake of this national tragedy, in this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses these issues with Usman Hamid , executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, and Yogi Setya Permana , a PhD candidate at KITLV in the Netherlands and the author of a 2017 study into football fan groups and local politics in Malang .

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo. Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Photo credit: Siswowidodo for Antara Foto

In April 2017, Indonesian Muslim women did something quite revolutionary: they successfully held the first Congress of Indonesian Women Muslim Scholars (Kongres Ulama Perempuan Indonesia, KUPI). The inaugural congress of Muslim women scholars (or ulama), held in Cirebon, West Java, resulted in three fatwas on what attendees considered the biggest challenges faced by Muslim women: sexual violence, underage marriage and environmental destruction. 

The congress was the result of collaboration among various women-led progressive Islamic organisations in Indonesia. They were united by the common goal of strengthening agency and taking charge over challenges faced by women at a time of cultural and political fragmentation in the country. Five years later, the second congress will take place in November, in Semarang and Jepara, Central Java, with the theme of “Affirming the Roles of Women Ulama in Creating a Just Islamic Civilisation”. One of the organisations involved is the Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) Indonesia.

What does the second congress aim to achieve? What are some of the biggest challenges faced by Muslim women leaders in Indonesia? In this episode of Talking Indonesia, Tito Ambyo speaks with the director of AMAN, Dwi Rubiyanti Kholifah (Ruby), about these issues and more.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Tito Ambyo, Dr Dave McRae from the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.

Photo by KUPI.

The #MeToo movement has led to a global reckoning on sexual violence, including in Indonesia. After a series of high profile sexual assault scandals, activists won a landmark legal battle against sexual violence earlier this year, with the passage of Law No. 12 of 2022 on the Crime of Sexual Violence, or UU TPKS.

But milestones aren’t achieved overnight. In this episode of Talking Indonesia, Dr Jacqui Baker talks to Andy Yentriyani, the head of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), who takes us behind the scenes of the 12-year battle to get the law passed. What does this law achieve for victims of sexual violence? How does an independent state organisation like Komnas Perempuan build alliances for change? How does it wrestle with the perennial problem of law enforcement?

This week's podcast is a collaboration with the Indonesia Update, hosted by the Indonesia Project at the Australian National University, where Andy spoke last week.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Dave McRae from the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Photo by Andy Yentriyani.

Environment and climate ministers from G20 nations gathered in Bali last week. Indonesian Minister for Forestry and the Environment Siti Nurbaya Bakar told the gathering the world was already in the midst of a climate crisis and called on G20 members to work together to bring down global temperatures. Despite these strong statements, Indonesian environmental groups have been highly critical of the government's ongoing support for fossil fuel extraction and high rates of deforestation.

Beyond these high-level meetings, what is happening at the grassroots in Indonesia in response to the climate crisis and the environmental emergencies that communities face every day? Will "green" issues feature in the 2024 elections? What, or who, has the power to drive real change on the environment in Indonesia?

In the latest episode of Talking Indonesia, Dr Jemma Purdey chats to Ewa Wojkowska, co-founder and chief operating officer of Bali-based NGO Kopernik, and Gede Robi, social activist, research consultant and member of rock band Navicula. Together they are the producers of the documentary film Pulau Plastik, now screening on Netflix, and a podcast about Navicula’s activism and music, A Soundtrack of Resistance.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS), Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Image source/ Aliansi Zero Waste Indonesia

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in early August inflamed tensions with China and put Taiwan, and its implications for regional stability, in the spotlight. In response to Pelosi's visit, China conducted extensive military drills around Taiwan, which included firing ballistic missiles over the country. A potential invasion of Taiwan by China would have broad international security ramifications, as the United States and its allies could be drawn into conflict. Any conflict would also cause major disruptions to trade and transportation throughout the region.

On the day of Pelosi's meeting with Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen, Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing concern at increasing great power rivalry, calling for the maintenance of peace and stability. The statement also noted Indonesia's continuing respect of the "One China Policy", whereby foreign countries acknowledge but do not recognise that China considers Taiwan to be a part of China.

What interests does Indonesia have with Taiwan and China? How would Indonesia respond in the event of armed conflict between the two? In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae chats with Ratih Kabinawa, a PhD Candidate in International Relations and Asian Studies at the University of Western Australia, who is writing her thesis on Taiwan's Southeast Asia foreign policy.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Photo credit: ANTARA FOTO/REUTERS/Ann Wang

Dr Wulan Dirgantoro and Dr Elly Kent - art and offence

Indonesian art collective Taring Padi made headlines around the world last month. The collective's 8x10 metre banner, "People's Justice" (2002), on display as part of the prestigious art exhibition documenta 15 in Kassel, Germany, was dramatically covered and subsequently taken down. The decision to remove the banner from its prominent position in the city's town square came after German and Israeli commentators labelled it antisemitic.

How did this work come to be on such prominent display? Who were the curators of documenta 15 and what part did they play in the decision to display this and other similarly controversial artworks in the three-month long exhibition? What has been the fallout for the Indonesian artists, and for the international art community at large?

In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Jemma Purdey explores these questions and more with Dr Wulan Dirgantoro, lecturer in Art History and Curatorship in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne, and Dr Elly Kent, deputy director of the ANU Indonesia Institute. They recently wrote on the controversy for New Mandala.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS), Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Image: by taring_padi on Instagram, 20 June 2022.

Indonesia's longest-standing and most prominent "cause lawyering" organisation, the Legal Aid Institute or LBH, was founded in the early days of Soeharto's authoritarian regime in 1970. Cause lawyering broadly refers to using the law to achieve social change. Throughout much of its history, LBH has faced the challenge of pursuing this mission in a context in which victory in the courtroom has been highly unlikely.

How have LBH's lawyers pursued social change in circumstances where victory in the courtroom has often been highly unlikely? Did democratisation open new opportunities for cause lawyering? How has LBH responded as the quality of democracy has declined? What does the future hold for LBH and cause lawyering in Indonesia?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae chats with Dr Tim Mann, editor of the Indonesia at Melbourne blog and associate director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS). Dr Mann wrote his PhD thesis on LBH and cause lawyering in a fragile democracy.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Photo credit: Screenshot from Watchdoc Documentary/Trismana.

Rapid growth in internet penetration in Indonesia over the past decade has altered the local media landscape and the ways in which news is produced and consumed. Over the past few years, several new broadcasting and digital media outlets have emerged, such as Tirto.id, Asumsi, Narasi TV, and Kumparan.

One of these new digital players is the American-Canadian company VICE, which opened a Jakarta bureau in 2016. Instead of “importing” the VICE brand to Indonesia, the Jakarta-based team was given free editorial rein. As a result, it has created its own style of journalism that mixes “serious” journalism with popular culture reporting on memes or investigations into supernatural stories.

This approach has garnered national and international awards as well as public attention. For example, VICE Indonesia’s collaboration with Tirto.Id and the Jakarta Post to investigate cases of allegations of sexual abuse in Indonesian universities, won the 2020 Public Service Journalism Award from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA). Meanwhile, its investigations into debts and debt collection have attracted more than 10 million views on YouTube.

Like many digital media companies, however, VICE Indonesia also faces tough challenges. How is VICE Indonesia tackling these challenges? What does it contribute to the VICE global brand as well as to journalism in Indonesia? Why is VICE Indonesia interested in supernatural stories? And what’s the story with the Khong Guan biscuit tin?

In Talking Indonesia this week, Tito Ambyo explores these questions and more with the managing editor of VICE Indonesia, Ardyan M. Erlangga.

Image by VICE Indonesia.

Indonesian Islam has long been lauded as tolerant and "moderate". It is this moderate character that has enabled Indonesia – the world's largest Muslim-majority country – to become a flourishing democracy, unlike many Muslim-majority countries in the Persian Gulf region. But recent years have seen rising Islamic conservatism in Indonesia, a trend that some scholars have called the "Arabisation" of Indonesian Islam.

Conservative Islamic social movements have long had a foothold in Indonesia, but they have surged in the more open political environment of the post-authoritarian era. Salafism is one such movement, a puritanical school of Islamic thought connected to Saudi Arabia.

Why has Salafism grown in popularity, especially among young Indonesians? How have Salafis promoted their teachings? What do they want, politically and economically? How is Salafism changing the face of Islam in Indonesia and, potentially, being changed in turn?

In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Jacqui Baker explores these questions and more with Dr Chris Chaplin from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr Chaplin recently published a book on the Salafi Islamic movement in Indonesia: Salafism and the State: Islamic Activism and National Identity in Indonesia.

Photo by Chris Chaplin.

Dr Elisabeth Kramer - Political candidates and anti-corruptionism

Indonesia has announced it will conduct its next general elections on 14 February 2024, to select a new president and vice president, and members of the national, provincial and district legislatures. This will be the largest electoral event in Indonesia’s history, with more candidates campaigning at the same time than ever before.

In past elections, fierce electoral competition has seen many candidates resort to vote buying (or "money-politics") to give them an edge in their campaigns. But a small number of candidates make the choice to take a risk and run against the status quo on a platform of "anticorruptionism".

Why is money politics so prevalent in Indonesian election campaigns? Why would a candidate choose to run on an anti-corruption platform, and do they have a chance of winning if they do? What does it all mean for the future of Indonesia’s democracy? In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Jemma Purdey explores these questions and more with Dr Elisabeth Kramer, deputy director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC), Sydney University and author of The Candidates Dilemma: AntiCorruptionism and Money Politics in Indonesian Electoral Campaigns.

In 2022, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Image: Antara Foto