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). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia. Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java.
Duncan's recent articles
8 May 2022
Voting season sees clichs 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 clichs.
14 April 2022
Giving Indonesian diplomacy a kick along
Australians arent 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 archipelagos yawning (both meanings) relations with its neighbour, as proved in the latest Lowy survey.
3 April 2022
In Indonesia the past is another country
Nationalism in the worlds fourth largest nation is rising - but so far unthreatening. Indonesian passions are being driven not by demagoguery but through discovery of the countrys pre-colonial, pre-Islam heritage with added ghosts.
24 March 2022
Keep calm and carry on with President Widodo
Therell be few Valentines Day greetings and faux flower mall displays in Indonesia two years hence. Thats not because Muslim scholars will again warn followers not to celebrate values that are considered to be against the Islamic Sharia.
13 March 2022
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.
3 March 2022
How the Netherlands is confronting past war crimes in Indonesia
The Dutch are squaring up to the wrongs of their nations colonial past, pushed by the conscience of young Hollanders shamed by revelations of villainy by their forebears.
13 February 2022
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.
9 February 2022
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.
28 January 2022
Old people's home for many Indonesians is a useful life with people they know
Australias aged-care policies include keeping frail oldies apart from society. Indonesia does the opposite seemingly benefitting all.
23 January 2022
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.
15 January 2022
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.
13 January 2022
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.
7 January 2022
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.
14 December 2021
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.
7 December 2021
Indonesias 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.
19 November 2021
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.
7 November 2021
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.
27 October 2021
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.
21 October 2021
Indonesia trade pitch plays down the perils awaiting outside investors
Chief among the many pitfalls of engaging with Australia's giant neighbour is Indonesias legal system, which is rife with corruption and rigged against foreigners.
13 October 2021
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.
8 October 2021
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.
26 September 2021
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, its off to the big show.
19 September 2021
In Indonesia: Pray, dont spray, papas hurt
Indonesian President Joko Widodo hasn't gone so far as to ban outlets that publish unflattering portrayals yet. Watch this space.
12 September 2021
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.
25 August 2021
The fastest gaffes in the West
Australians who reckon were recognised as an independent player on the world stage havent had to confront the neighbours scepticism. Apart from the Union Jack on the flag and the Queens likeness on our coinage, theres also the matter of our US badge.
22 August 2021
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 Indonesias national day, 17 August and no one was partying.
10 August 2021
Happy Anniversary, Indonesia. Must catch up sometime. We dont seem to care!
Gday Cobbers, hear its your Big Bash next Tuesday. Have a good one, yeah? Sorry, cant make it, lockdowns and all that, know youll understand. Anyway, heres a few cards.
5 August 2021
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.
22 July 2021
Allah is calling; loudly in Indonesia.
The new word on the block is Isoman, a portmanteau of isolasi and mandiri, meaning self-isolation. Its another place to die in Indonesia along with hospitals.
12 July 2021
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 its Bloody Tuesday - Idul Adha, the feast of the sacrifice. This year participants may become victims.
6 July 2021
Lockdowns compulsory in Indonesia if you like
Luhut Binsar Panjaitan doesnt read Pearls & Irritations. Thats obvious because the former general and Indonesian President Joko Widodos Mr Fixit alleged he was blindsided by the latest tsunami of Covid 19.
29 June 2021
Garuda-The spirit of Indonesia takes a dive
The financial deck warning lights had been flashing furiously when Indonesias Garuda airline welshed on its AUD 660 million sukuk repayments this month after a 14-day grace.
24 June 2021
Facing a taxing time in Indonesia
There are no EFTPOS machines on the benches of Indonesias traditional markets. All deals are cash, rupiah notes grubby from the soiled roots of shallots pulled hours earlier.
15 June 2021
Lampooners beware politicians dignity is precious
A cutting cartoon by Cathy Wilcox in The Age this month had a figure looking like Scott Morrison in the first frame saying: And Jenny said to me, you have to think of this as a father first. In the second the PM adds: And I thought: Dont be ridiculous. These girls dont look anything like my daughters.
1 June 2021
Indonesia's anti corruption commission goes missing in action.
If you needed a blood transfusion, would you accept a donor from a different religion? Do you believe in polygamy? Would you take part in a threesome?
27 May 2021
Never mind the width, feel the quality
Theyre standouts in any language, often tall, blond, and looking as though theyve just been hit by a runaway road train top-heavy with cultural and communication overburden.
22 May 2021
Will India's Covid wave hit Indonesia? Stand by and stand back
The next fortnight should show whether the nation with the worlds fourth-largest population will tumble into the plague pit where the second place holder currently writhes.
4 May 2021
Human rights abuses on our doorstep but we say nothing.
We know this order will lead to more killing, more torture, more suffering of my people. The Speaker of the Indonesian House [of Representatives], Bambang Soesatyo, has urged the Government to destroy them first. We will discuss human rights matters later.
28 April 2021
Ramadan in Indonesia
Its Ramadan, the annual fasting month followed strictly, laxly or somewhere in-between by the worlds 1.8 billion Muslims. Living among the famished practising their traditions in Indonesia where 88 per cent of the 273 million citizens say they follow Islam can be physically challenging, intellectually confusing and socially engrossing.
21 April 2021
Chinese propaganda has come to Indonesia, big time.
Before you book a flight to Aotearoa in the travel bubble, think again. There are other places with knockout scenery, higher mountains, clear lakes and splendid grasslands. The roads are straight and free of cluttering campervans. Better still, the sunny locals are keen to share their exotic cuisine and rich culture of singing, dancing, equestrian skills and falconry.
5 April 2021
Easter in Indonesia: a time to be wary
Easter is different in Islam-dominated Indonesia. High on the facade of the Catholic cathedral and other churches in Malang, East Java stand statues of a welcoming Jesus. Beneath his outstretched arms parishioners got the extra protection of six-wheeled armoured personnel carriers, soldiers and police ready to intimidate potential bombers.
30 March 2021
The jilbab: human rights in Indonesia
An Indonesian woman appears before God who will pass judgement. The almighty checks the freshly-deceaseds CV, noting she prayed regularly at the mosque, recited the Koran and lived an upright life. However, she didnt always wear a jilbab. For the sin of letting strangers see her glossy black locks, shell be condemned to the everlasting furnace, though not alone. Also cooking will be her male rellies who didnt curb her willfulness, and Mum for her inability to raise a pious daughter.
25 March 2021
How not to win friends and influence people
No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia. If we fail to get this relationship right, and nurture and develop it, the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete. Paul Keating - 1994
14 March 2021
The long Chinese march into Indonesia with vaccines
Chinese officials in Australia rarely miss an opportunity to chill relations by turning down the thermostat on our democratic values and way of seeing the world. Meanwhile, the Middle Kingdoms men in Jakarta are playing a long and warming game.So far about four million have had their first vaccine shot and around 1.5 million needle two.
8 March 2021
Australia could take a leaf from Indonesia's personalised approach to aged care
Our street in Indonesia has 70 households. Many are mixed-generation families. With few nursing homes or retirement villages, and those being far away, families have two options: The kids do the caring or employ a carer. Either way, Grandpa or Grandma stays home.
2 March 2021
Thin-skinned Widodo in Indonesia: Messengers beware
The first who told of Lucullus' coming so angered Tigranes that he had the messengers head, effectively ensuring no one brought bad news. Deprived of fresh intelligence Tigranes watched while war raged, listening only to flatterers.
18 February 2021
Indonesia still waiting for legislation to penalise sexual violence
Five years ago a Bill was put before Indonesias lower house (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) to penalise sexual violence. Activists stressed the need for urgency as the scourge was increasing. Theyre still waiting.
7 February 2021
Murdoch & Morrison v. The ABC - GetUp fails a commendable mission
GetUp has added public broadcasting to environmental justice, human rights and other worthy issues. Through the just-released video, Murdoch & Morrison v. The ABC, its trying to arouse anger against the impact of News Corps never-ending siege of the national broadcaster
30 January 2021
Indonesias pandemic policy: Pray and pay
Indonesia's former health minister, a medical doctor, predicted the satanic infection would fly over the country because the people below were so pious. The world's fourth most populous nation has a huge vaccination task ahead.