We are currently displaying stories from the year 2005 out ot a total of 288 of stories on indahnesia.com. Please use the navigation below to look through the other pages of stories in other years. There are currently 10 pages to look at. Each year has it's own page, the 'latest'-page displays the ten most recent stories published on indahnesia.com. The stories are ordered by the date that they were published.

Muslims, minorities and the state in Indonesia
		30 December 2005 - Indonesian Islam will remain moderate and tolerant by and large, but problems and challenges will continue to exist. The future of Indonesia depends on the ways in which the government and various Muslim groups actually act in public life. While violence, discrimination, and grievances are still felt among the minorities, especially non-Muslims, the Muslim ... ( read on )

Radicalism extends roots, becoming institutionalized
		26 December 2005 - There is no danger that Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, will be turned into an Islamic state. One reason for this is that most Indonesians practice a moderate strain of Islam and are tolerant of different religions. Another reason is that the nation's founding fathers, who included charismatic Muslim leaders and ulema, ... ( read on )

Homeless adrift a year after Boxing Day tsunami
		18 December 2005 - Billions of dollars have been pledged and thousands of new homes built but the city of Banda Aceh is still a scene of devastation after the Boxing Day tsunami of last year. Tens of thousands are surviving in shanty towns of scrap wood and metal churned up by the terrifying force of the sea. ... ( read on )

Living on a fault line
		15 December 2005 - A year after the tsunami, scientists fear that another monster earthquake might one day strike Sumatra, triggering a fresh inundation by the sea. How frightened should we be? The village of Maligi on the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra seems idyllic-- two dozen houses strung along a palm -- and casuarina-covered strip ... ( read on )

Indonesia under threat of 'lost generation'
		14 December 2005 - Her name, Sasih, in Sundanese means 'month'. Over the past 14 years, Sasih has given birth to five children -- two boys and three girls -- with the youngest being barely two years old. Along with husband Kadmira, a bajaj driver, the family of seven occupies a two-meter by two-meter rented room in a ... ( read on )

Back to Bali: Bombs, cocktails and surfers
		04 December 2005 - I managed to hop over to Bali for a few days last week in order to both soothe my metro madness and also to see how the old island was faring after the recent bombings. Lion Air did the honors for about Rp 900,000 return, which is pretty good value, I guess, although anyone ... ( read on )

HIV-positive Dolvince keeps spirit of life aflame
		01 December 2005 - The mere mention of the term "PLWHA" (person living with HIV/AIDS) will make people's imagination immediately form the image of a frail person characterized by a severe inferiority complex and a strong urge to keep himself aloof from society. This is a common image about a PLWHA because the people in this country, generally, ... ( read on )

Property for foreigners
		30 November 2005 - Property analysts and developers share the same pessimistic projection that demand for all kinds of property will decline as the central bank continues to raise interest rates to cope with strong inflationary pressures and with a four-year low in consumer confidence. This negative market sentiment, we think, is partly responsible for the revisiting of an ... ( read on )

Are hard-liners deviants or true believers?
		18 November 2005 - Some of the moderate and liberal Muslims (I consider myself as part of this group) often charge that hard-liners, jihadists, terrorists and suicide bombers are not true believers. The jihadist and terrorists are more aptly called deviant Muslims, people with a fallacious understanding of Islam. We also blame their activities as tarnishing the name ... ( read on )

A factory of shame
		15 November 2005 - Over a long period in a hamlet in Tangerang, Banten, workers have quietly churned out illegal drugs in a factory licensed to produce cables, seemingly without disruption, until fish in a nearby stream died, from red and yellow substances dumped into the water it was surmised. The substances were later found to be derivatives of ... ( read on )

Azahari, hard work and stupidity
		12 November 2005 - If there was ever an occasion when the words "terrorism" and "good news" can ever be used in the same sentence, then Wednesday's police raid that led to the death of bombmaker Dr. Azahari was certainly one of them. It had been a long time coming. The work of the notorious Demolition Man is ... ( read on )

Casuarina trees create hope for coastal villagers
		11 November 2005 - Until five years ago, the coastal areas along the southern beaches of Bantul Regency were dry and infertile. No plants seemed to be able to survive the strong, burning wind and the land lay parched and barren. Agricultural efforts in the area were sporadic and often failed. However, thanks to a reforestation program initiated by ... ( read on )

TNI uses Bali bombing to reassert political role
		23 October 2005 - Attending a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the Indonesian military (TNI) on October 5, just days after the deadly bombing in Bali, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed the TNI to "take part in effectively curbing, preventing and acting against terrorism". Despite the fact that defence and intelligence analysts have repeatedly blamed poor coordination ... ( read on )

Bounty turns up heat on JI mystery man
		10 October 2005 - Southeast Asia's most wanted man is very similar to the terrorist groups he represents low profile, well travelled, little known and explosive. Dulmatin, now 35 and at the top of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) organisation, won notoriety last week when the US State Department's Rewards for Justice programme put a $10-million bounty on ... ( read on )

Subsidy cut to fuel the fire
		27 September 2005 - In the wake of a two-month "mini crisis" that saw the rupiah hit a four-year low of 11,750 per dollar on August 30, Jakarta has finally announced an imminent and substantial reduction in fuel subsidies. The exact date and the level of cuts have yet to be announced, though there is widespread speculation over ... ( read on )

A boat trip from Bali to Lombok
		19 September 2005 - Only for the first time since 1999, I was about to make some boat trips. After planning a trip by motor from Yogya all the way to Sumbawa Besar (yes, on Sumbawa island), I soon discovered there was no road all the way, but there were some stretches of sea to cross as well. ... ( read on )

Keeping a collection of rare and banned books
		17 September 2005 - The dimness inside the Room of Rarities at the library of Surabaya's Medayu Agung Foundation gives way to brightness when Oei Hiem Hwie enters the room and turns on the main lights. Rows of neatly arranged books can be seen through the glass doors of a wooden cabinet ornamented with Jepara carving. "You will ... ( read on )

Why Indonesia must consider abolishing Rupiah
		01 September 2005 - The crisis of confidence that has come back to haunt the rupiah for the second time in eight years is making some analysts wonder if Indonesia would be better off without a central bank. After all, what's the good of having a monetary authority when it can't protect the purchasing power of the currency ... ( read on )

One day aboard KRI Dewaruci
		29 August 2005 - It was about a week ago, at a Saturday morning, that I was thinking about whether I should to all the way to Amsterdam to have a look at some boats, because that's in fact wat Sail 2005 had to offer, a long line of boats, moored to the city's cays. Most of them ... ( read on )

British intervention Indonesia
		16 August 2005 - Sixty years ago on Aug. 17 Indonesia's Founding Fathers President Sukarno and Vice-President Mohamad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Independence or Proklomasi as it is known. An historic event. The national leaders, under great pressure from militant nationalist youth, had seized the hour. Unknown to the leaders and their enthusiastic followers, forces were soon to ... ( read on )

Some hotels have their stories
		23 July 2005 - Over about seven years of travelling to Indonesia, I have spend many of my nights at houses with relatives in Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta, but as a traveller it's not possible to forget all about the hotels, even if you want to. But in fact, most hotel guests won't mention their stay there when ... ( read on )

Disaster of man's making now threatens Sumatra
		15 May 2005 - Cut Anita peered from the open flap of her sunbaked tent one recent day. She watched keenly as a carpenter hammered a wood plank less than five feet away. Another sawed a board in two, freeing the sweet fragrance of forest hardwood. Her new home was taking shape before her, and she dared not ... ( read on )

Koninginnedag and 'Kantjil 2 go'
		05 May 2005 - Sometimes, just sometimes when I'm walking around, having a cold drink on a nice Dutch spring day, I have the feeling that I'm on holiday. One of those days was just barely a week ago, when I was on my way to Amsterdam. I'm going there a few times a year to meet with ... ( read on )

One night in Banyuwangi
		10 April 2005 - On my trip from Yogyakarta to the east, to Bali, Lombok and even Sumbawa, I was scheduled to make a stop-over in Banyuwangi, the last city before I was to enter the boat to Bali to enter a completely different world. After driving a good 1000 kilometers on my brand new motorbike it was ... ( read on )

Deadly ground
		06 April 2005 - Alinda-Jane Hannah, a New Zealander living in Phuket, was nearly killed by the Dec. 26 tsunami. Driving along a road in the beachside town of Kamala, she and her 3-year-old daughter Nakita-Rose were almost washed away by the waves as they swamped the eastern coast of the island. A sharp intimation of mortality revisited ... ( read on )

Fuelling reforms in Indonesia
		01 March 2005 - It is the single most unpopular decision any Indonesian president could make, with the potential to trigger immediate political unrest. But the move by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to cut costly fuel subsidies and so push fuel prices up by 30 per cent in a poor nation is also the single most important decision ... ( read on )

A police experience in Bali and Yogyakarta
		20 February 2005 - A different world of course, since Bali is located about 500 kilometers east of Yogyakarta. It's another island, another culture and whatever more, but one thing I encountered amazed me the most, but in fact I only realised it when I was home again, bringing back memories with some friends and beers. This is ... ( read on )

Yogya from the air
		14 February 2005 - It's not the world as I know it, an aerial view over the city. Normally I will only see cities from the roads I drive on by motorbike. It's much more cheap to do so, because using a helicopter to have a look in town is not for the average man. Still I had ... ( read on )

Bakso Belanda
		22 January 2005 - Back home for a week, leaving me with lots of work at the office, at home and in Indonesia. Maybe it's just good that I'm working hard right from the day I'm home, because I'm quite sure I would be missing Indonesia like hell when I was bored to death here. It was just ... ( read on )

Reporting Aceh emotional for Najwa
		21 January 2005 - Visions of battered Aceh and North Sumatra provinces struck television reporter Najwa Shihab last month with something she thought she had already knew: What journalism is all about. With her distinctive radiance Najwa may appear to be just like any other TV reporter-cum-anchor, with more unkind critics even suggesting that she is a bit ... ( read on )