Indonesia

By Step Vaessen in Asia on April 11th, 2011
Burning piles of pornographic material in Jakarta [Photo by EPA]

It took only two and half minute, but it was enough for him to lose his job, seriously embarrass Indonesia's largest Islamic party, make a fool of the whole parliament and become the laughing stock of a nation.  

By Al Jazeera Staff in Asia on March 11th, 2011
A ship is washed aground in Kamaishi City, Iwate, by the tsunami which followed the Japanese earthquake [Picture: Reuters]

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on February 17th, 2011
Saif Gaddafi, the son of Libya's leader, warned of 'civil war' in a speech on Sunday night.

As protests in Libya enter their eighth day, following a "day of rage" on Thursday, we keep you updated on the developing situation from our headquarters in Doha, Qatar.

(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)

Blog: Feb17 - Feb18 - Feb19 - Feb20

By Laurence Lee in Europe, Business on November 16th, 2010
Photo: GALLO/GETTY

Middlesbrough, a large town in the northeast of England, has some of the nicest people you'll find anywhere, and that's particularly surprising given what they've been through over the last few decades.

Other than the container port, the two main drivers of employment here were steel (first British Steel, then Corus, then Tata, now nothing), and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), which also got sold off in packets to conglomerates from the Middle East, Indonesia and elsewhere. Those people who say globalisation works should take a look here - it's failed people utterly.

People say that every one of the 50,000 or so who worked in steel or petrochemicals kept another seven people in work in feeder industries - suppliers and the like - so the fact that steel's now gone and petrochemicals employs just 3,000 means ... well, you work it out.

So Middlesbrough is on its knees.
By Jamal Elshayyal in Middle East on May 22nd, 2010
Photo by Al Jazeera

Ten thousand tons of cargo, 800 passengers, 50 nationalities, nine vessels - one aim - to break the siege on Gaza.

That's the simple math behind the Freedom Flotilla as its lead vessel was unveiled on Saturday in Istanbul.

By Step Vaessen in Asia on April 30th, 2010

The lungs of the world are suffering from serious breathing problems. It struck me again when we drove for ten hours on a dirt road on the Indonesian island of Borneo without seeing... trees. I mean real firm standing trees with leaves. The once stunning rain forest has been replaced by a scenery that mostly resembles a graveyard. Undefinable bush on both sides of the road where blackened burned remains of trees are the only evidence that this used to be a forest. Borneo-romantically described as the lungs of the world-is not the most cheerful place on this planet. 

The island has turned into a wild west area where loggers, miners and greedy officials rule.

Far away from the capital Jakarta logging permits, conservation assessments, sustainable palm oil are just abstract concepts of people wearing suits sitting in airconditioned offices. Here the rules of the jungle apply. 

The minister of forestry had put it bluntly.

By Step Vaessen in Asia on April 14th, 2010
Photo by Getty Images

The climax of the drama currently unfolding in Indonesia is a well-known police general being filmed in his bed, covered by a blanket.

The war against corruption is slowly but surely turning into a soap series - a cheap, badly cast and horribly scripted soap series, so to speak. It's great for the ratings of private television channels, but embarrassing for nearly everyone else, especially the main players.

The intentions are good. Indonesia, still one of the most corrupt countries in the world, is finally waging a war against this long held dark tradition.

A high ranking tax official who's monthly salary was not more than a $1,000 dollars is now exposed in the media as the owner of at least five luxurious houses and a comfortable 7 million dollars in the bank. This being exposed in the media was unthinkable just five to ten years ago.

By Matthew Allard in Asia on March 15th, 2010
Photos by Matthew Allard

For millions of years, the Komodo dragon has lived in the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. They were only discovered by humans in the last 100 years.

The Komodo dragon is on the endangered species list and although their numbers have increased in recent years, they still only number around 4,000.

They can weigh up to 150kg and grow to more than three metres in length. And Komodos eat almost anything - deer, pigs, smaller dragons, even large water buffalo and humans.

They lay in wait and surprise theeir pray. With shark-like serrated teeth, they bite there prey, but that’s not what kills them. Dragon saliva teems with over 50 strains of bacteria, and within 24 hours, its prey usually dies of blood poisoning.

Tags: Indonesia
By Step Vaessen in Asia on October 21st, 2009
Photo by AFP

His name has been a bit of an obstacle from the start. Try asking anyone in this world what the Indonesian president is called. I did this in Washington a few years ago. The best I got was “Bang Bang”.

During that same trip to the US - I was covering the tour as part of the president's entourage - the speaker of the Senate announced the Indonesian president as Susilo Bambang Joedoyoyo. The man also called the tsunami a 'tsenoemi', so we can’t totally blame it on the name.

In the eyes of Indonesians, foreigners might be forgiven if they can't properly pronounce Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It’s a hell of a name. His parents had high hopes for their only son, so they called him “a person who is more than loyal and who can win every war”. With a name like that, he had no other choice than to join the military.

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