Talking Indonesia

Disparities in development between different regions in Indonesia can be stark. Urban centres on Java like Jakarta and Yogyakarta have human development index scores in the high 70s and low 80s, whereas eastern Indonesian provinces like Papua, West Papua and East Nusa Tenggara score in the high 50s to low 60s. President Jokowi has repeatedly touched upon such disparities in his political rhetoric, pledging to move away from a Java-focussed development model to a so-called Indonesia-centric approach. But what are the drivers of regional disparity, what are its broader impacts, and what policy levers are available to the government to lessen differences between regions.

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses these issues with Professor Bambang Brodjonegoro, Indonesia's Minister for National Development Planning and Head of Indonesia's National Development Planning Agency, Bappenas. You can read Professor Brodjonegoro’s presentation on regional disparities at the 2018 Indonesia Development Forum here: https://goo.gl/jbK83d (Bahasa Indonesia).

Today's episode is the first of a "Policy in Focus" series of Talking Indonesia episodes, supported by the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI), a partnership between the Australian and Indonesian governments that aims to improve the use of evidence in development policymaking. This series will appear periodically in alternate weeks to the regular Talking Indonesia episodes.

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favourite podcasting app.

Photo credit: Flickr user Australian Embassy Jakarta under CC BY 2.0 license

Bandung-based Pemuda Hijrah has amassed a huge following among young Muslims but has largely escaped the attention of the mainstream media. Led by charismatic young preachers such as Hanan Attaki, Pemuda Hijrah is followed by millions of young Muslims on social media. It presents a cool, hip image that combines youthful energy with revivalist Islamic teachings.

What does Pemuda Hijrah and other groups like it tell us about the type of Islam that appeals to young Indonesian Muslims?

To find out more about Pemuda Hijrah, Dr Charlotte Setijadi chats to Dr Quinton Temby from ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute who has spent most of the last year living in Bandung researching the group.

Young politicians

Indonesia is undoubtedly a young nation. The median age of the population is just 28 years. In the 2019 elections, 45% of eligible voters will be between 17 and 36 years of age. More than ever, Indonesia’s youth play a key role in the country’s politics. In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Jemma Purdey talks to Rian Ernest, a senior member of the Indonesia's new 'youth' party, Indonesia Solidarity Party (Partai Solidaritas Indonesia, PSI). Ernest (31 years) is a first time candidate for the party in the 2019 legislative elections. He is a lawyer and former adviser to then Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

What motivated Rian to join to enter a career in politics at this moment in Indonesian history? As a young Indonesian, what are the most pressing issues for the future? What role will Indonesia's youth play in that future? Will it be a politically active one

2018 has been a year marked by large-scale natural disasters in Indonesia. A series of earthquakes from July-August in Lombok lefts hundreds dead, and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Another massive earthquake on 28 September then devastated Central Sulawesi's capital city - Palu - and nearby Donggala district. The quake triggered both a tsunami and destructive soil liquefaction, killing thousands of people. These events are consistent with a broader pattern of disaster vulnerability in Indonesia - one recent study ranked the country as suffering the fourth highest frequency of natural disasters in the world, and the eighth most deaths.

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae speaks with two of Indonesia's leading experts on disaster management to ask how Indonesia anticipates and responds to disasters on this scale, and whether more could be done to mitigate the risk and impact of such disasters ahead of time.

The first guest is Professor Kuntoro Mangkusubroto , who from 2005-2009 headed the national government's Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, or BRR, formed in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Professor Kuntoro was also head of the Yudhoyono government's Presidential Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight, and is currently chairperson of the board of the School of Business and Management at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

The second guest in this week's episode is Dr Rahmawati Husein , deputy chair of the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Centre, and a member of the advisory board of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). She has also been elected to the advisory board of the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favourite podcasting app.

Photo credit: Imang Jasmine(Imam Syafrudien As)

It is more than two years since Indonesia passed the landmark Law 8 of 2016 of People with Disability, but implementation has been slow and prejudices and discrimination against people with disability remain widespread. In the education sector, for example, access and opportunities for learning are still limited. Some Islamic universities, however, have taken important steps toward improving accessibility for students with disability and enhancing awareness among staff.

What prompted these universities to act? What is the likelihood that others will follow? And what kind of obstacles stand in the way of more far-reaching reforms? In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Dirk Tomsa discusses these and other questions with Dr Dina Afrianty, Research Fellow at the La Trobe Law School, and a founder of the Australia-Indonesia Disability Research and Advocacy Network (AIDRAN). 

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favorite podcasting app.

Image credit: Center for Disability Studies and Services (CDSS) Universitas Brawijaya.

Religious intolerance is on the rise in Indonesia, and the state has reacted strongly from a security point of view, with initiatives such as a law passed last year that allows the government to disband any civil society group deemed to disrupt national unity. Many civil society groups support the law, declaring it as necessary to combat radicalism, terrorism, and intolerance. However, is this hard-line stance really the best approach to tackle the issue of rising religious intolerance in Indonesia? Is there a more nuanced way to confront rising religious intolerance?

In January 2016 the Minister for Technology, Research and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir stated that universities must uphold standards of ‘values and morals’ and should not support organisations that promote LGBT activities. What followed was a social and political furore that has since seen a surge of intolerance and attacks on LGBT. While persecution of sexual minorities is not new, homosexuality is not illegal and in large part within Indonesian society have been accorded tolerance, and at times acceptance.

What does the strengthening of conservative voices in Indonesia mean for sexual expression more generally and the rights of minority groups in particular? Why do morality issues and debates have such social currency? What part is this debate likely to have in the forthcoming election campaigns? What does the future look like for the rights of sexual and gender minorities in Indonesia?

In early August, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto registered as the only candidates for Indonesia's April 2019 presidential election, repeating their head-to-head showdown from 2014. Much though, has changed in Indonesia's political landscape over the past five years. Both men have new running mates for one thing. Nor is Jokowi an unknown new entrant to national politics any longer - he will enter 2019 with a five year track record to defend focused on infrastructure and social spending. The massive Islamist mobilisation in 2016 against then Jakarta governor Ahok also continues to reverberate through the political system. Moreover, 2019 will be the first time that the legislative and presidential elections will be held on the same day - 17 April - owing to a Constitutional Court decision ordering that these elections no longer be held several months apart.

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses the electoral landscape nine months out from next year's polls with leading political observer Associate Professor Marcus Mietzner from the Australian National University's Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Marcus is currently a visiting fellow at Kyoto University.

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight.

Photo Credit: Puspa Perwitasari for AntaraFoto

The issue of Chinese investment is a controversial topic in Indonesia. Viewed with suspicion and even animosity, Chinese investments are often associated with the ideological threat of communism, as well as a reminder of negative stereotypes of the ethnic Chinese business elites in the country. As such, Chinese investments are considered to be a political liability, especially during and around election times. Yet Chinese investments in Indonesia is on an upward trend. China became Indonesia's second-biggest source of foreign direct investment in 2017, and it seems only a matter of time before China becomes the biggest foreign investor in Indonesia.

In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Charlotte Setijadi chats to Dr Siwage Dharma Negara from ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore about trade and investment relations between Indonesia and China, and how Jokowi's political opponents may use the issue of Chinese investments against him in the 2019 presidential election.

Local elections held in June 2018 brought victories for a number of candidates who in the last few years have made a name for themselves as innovative and reform-oriented. But can this new breed of local executive leaders really change entrenched patterns of doing politics in Indonesia? How do they navigate established patronage channels? And how do they see their place within the broader political environment in Indonesia today?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dirk Tomsa discusses these and other questions with one of these young politicians, Dr Bima Arya, the recently re-elected Mayor of Bogor.

In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.

Photo courtesy of Bima Arya.