Writer
Duncan Graham
Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press) and winner of the Walkley Award and Human Rights awards. He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia.
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Voting season sees clichés bloom
Elections are spring rains bursting dormant seeds into carpets of weeds. Common varieties include sun-intolerant promises and herbicide-resistant lies. The most tenacious is Diurnarius proverbium, commonly known as journalistic clichés. Continue reading »
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Giving Indonesian diplomacy a kick along
Australians aren’t tops for geography, often promoting Bali to nationhood. Likewise, Indonesians shifting Perth to the East Coast. But they can locate Manchester, the gritty industrial centre in northwest England. Curiously that could enliven the equatorial archipelago’s yawning (both meanings) relations with its neighbour, as proved in the latest Lowy survey. Continue reading »
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In Indonesia the past is another country
Nationalism in the world’s fourth largest nation is rising – but so far unthreatening. Indonesian passions are being driven not by demagoguery but through discovery of the country’s pre-colonial, pre-Islam heritage with added ghosts. Continue reading »
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Keep calm and carry on with President Widodo
There’ll be few Valentine’s Day greetings and faux flower mall displays in Indonesia two years hence. That’s not because Muslim scholars will again warn followers not to celebrate ‘values that are considered to be against the Islamic Sharia.’ Continue reading »
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Measuring the decibels of piety in Indonesia
Visitors to Indonesia beware: Sound off about visual pollution from billboards or trash in rivers or the CO2 assaults on lungs and listeners will nod. Continue reading »
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How the Netherlands is confronting past war crimes in Indonesia
The Dutch are squaring up to the wrongs of their nation’s colonial past, pushed by the conscience of young Hollanders shamed by revelations of villainy by their forebears. Continue reading »
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Lost in mistranslation: Australian soft power goes missing in Indonesia
We should spruce up the relationship now rather than wait until it collapses into misunderstandings and ill will. The second of a two-part essay. Continue reading »
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Indonesia invisible across the election landscape
Why do we ignore the nation nearby with a population 11 times larger than ours? The answers are manifold. This is the first of a two-part essay. Continue reading »
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Old people’s home for many Indonesians is a useful life with people they know
Australia’s aged-care policies include keeping frail oldies apart from society. Indonesia does the opposite – seemingly benefitting all. Continue reading »
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Women’s rights in Indonesia: progress amid the division
Resistance to proposed legislation against sexual violence underlines the uphill task faced by moderates seeking change in a male-dominated society. Continue reading »
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Wake up Australia: ASEAN has lost value and purpose
ASEAN is throttled by a policy prohibiting members from interfering in each others’ affairs. The results are clear in relation to Myanmar. Continue reading »
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Eternal vigilance for Indonesia, even after a season of peace
A low-key approach to combating terrorism has worked for authorities, though an expert warns that extremism remains deeply rooted in the archipelago. Continue reading »
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Quelle horreur! Paris poaching in our paddock leased to Washington
An ancient European power is putting more energy into courting a paramour 11,500 kilometres distant than the young swain next door. Continue reading »
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Puff pieces harm one of Indonesia’s most respected newspapers
A publication that emerged as a champion of democracy after the long years of dictatorship has allowed its principles to go up in smoke. Continue reading »
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Indonesia’s haphazard pandemic response is no holiday
While the president has banned Christmas holidays in a bid to prevent COVID transmission, the enforcement of decrees has been fitful at best. Continue reading »
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Conservatives undermine push against sexual violence on Indonesian campuses
Hardline Muslim organisations insist Indonesia’s moves to curb sexual harassment will encourage adultery and sex outside marriage. Continue reading »
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Indonesia’s Widodo lacks the will, let alone ability, to fight climate change
Our near neighbour faces a colossal task in keeping the lights on while reducing emissions. Even some solutions create problems. Continue reading »
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Faltering forum: time to euthanise the ASEAN nag
If ASEAN crashed in the Melbourne Cup the on-course vets would be ready with the needle and green tarpaulin. But this bag-o’-bones is such a dud it would have been scratched. Continue reading »
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Indonesia trade pitch plays down the perils awaiting outside investors
Chief among the many pitfalls of engaging with Australia’s giant neighbour is Indonesia’s legal system, which is rife with corruption and rigged against foreigners. Continue reading »
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Paul Keating’s Indonesian vision has been undone by his successors
Paul Keating’s successors failed to build on the promise and possibilities offered by the 1995 security pact with Jakarta — and the chance won’t come again. Continue reading »
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Mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic the Javanese way
On the surface, it looks like Indonesia has the pandemic under control — a summery success story for the world’s fourth-most populous country. In truth, there’s a more wintery tale to tell. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: How to make friends and influence neighbours the Australian way
First, a couple of ministers pop in on their way elsewhere. They pronounce warm relationships. A swap of bromides, nice photos, some pressies of vaccines to save lives and military gear to end them. Then hey ho, it’s off to the big show. Continue reading »
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In Indonesia: Pray, don’t spray, papa’s hurt
Indonesian President Joko Widodo hasn’t gone so far as to ban outlets that publish unflattering portrayals — yet. Watch this space. Continue reading »
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Our two ministers just passing by in Indonesia – got a mo?
Marise Payne and Peter Dutton’s Jakarta visit was flagged as an ‘exclusive’ in an AFR curtain-raiser implying a renaissance in relations between Australia and Indonesia. That expectation came to naught. Continue reading »
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The fastest gaffes in the West
Australians who reckon we’re recognised as an independent player on the world stage haven’t had to confront the neighbours’ scepticism. Apart from the Union Jack on the flag and the Queen’s likeness on our coinage, there’s also the matter of our US badge. Continue reading »
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How the plague squashes patriotism
It was weird, like the day after in a disaster movie. Empty chairs on a red carpet and mike stands sans mikes. Not a VIP within coo-ee, though their black limos were parked outside the Malang town hall. This was Indonesia’s national day, 17 August and no one was partying. Continue reading »
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Happy Anniversary, Indonesia. Must catch up sometime . We don’t seem to care!   Â
G’day Cobbers, hear it’s your Big Bash next Tuesday. Have a good one, yeah? Sorry, can’t make it, lockdowns and all that, know you’ll understand. Anyway, here’s a few cards. Continue reading »
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It’s still three years away, but the candidates are already lining up to be the next President of Indonesia
The epicentre of the pandemic is now next door. When – and if – Covid is crushed or controlled, Indonesia will need a president with prodigious leadership qualities and technical smarts to restore hope and get the economy out of ICU. Vainglorious candidates will fail the tasks – but may still win the job. Continue reading »
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Allah is calling; loudly in Indonesia.
The new word on the block is Isoman, a portmanteau of isolasi and mandiri, meaning self-isolation. It’s another place to die in Indonesia along with hospitals. Continue reading »
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Fear God, not the pandemic in Indonesia.
July 20 will be a big day in Indonesia. It marks the end of more than two weeks of lockdown, and it’s Bloody Tuesday – Idul Adha, the feast of the sacrifice. This year participants may become victims. Continue reading »
