Penang is intensifying efforts to attract Chinese medical tourists, aiming to increase revenue by offering diverse medical services and capitalising on its growing holiday destination reputation.
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta met with Indonesia’s leader this week to boost trade ties and reiterated his hopes for the country’s inclusion into Asean. Indonesia is next year’s chair of the regional bloc.
In her latest and most personal work, Marga T ‘cleanses’ her soul as she opens up on her traumatic childhood, her mother’s death, and dealing with abuse.
Four in 10 residents of the Indonesian city that’s within a province bordering East Malaysia are ethnic Chinese. A new survey has found it’s the most tolerant place in the Muslim-majority nation of 270 million people.
Tari Sasha was lured to Taiwan by the prospects of a good job, but received empty promises and discrimination instead.
From bakmi ayam to laksa bogor and mi belitung, vendors of these Indonesian-Chinese dishes haven’t had it easy in keeping a tradition, that harks back centuries to Jakarta’s maritime past, alive.
For some families in Singapore and Indonesia, fish maw and fried food won’t be on the reunion dinner menu. In Thailand, pork prices have shot up by 80 per cent in six months.
Linguist Sim Tze Wei has been accused of trying to divide the Chinese people, as there are those who see the use of other Chinese languages ‘as a sign of disunity and weakness’.
Thousands left the archipelago in the last century and have assimilated well, but some ‘still live in the atmosphere’ of Indonesia, despite their years away.
Crumbling and rat-infested, 200-year-old ‘Satan’s Building’ in Surabaya, Indonesia was once a shelter for ethnic Chinese refugees. Its story is one of past violence and present-day racial harmony, seen in the lives of its inhabitants.
Up to 15 million youth jobs in the region are expected to disappear in 2020, and even those who can find work face the prospect of lower earnings for years to come.
Educated farmers are taking to the fields in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, spurred on by new technologies and progressive ideals.
Of the 31 foreign-flagged ships illegally fishing in Indonesia’s North Natuna Sea from June to October, 21 were from Vietnam while none were from China.
The Coalition of Sovereign Migrant Workers said it interviewed Indonesians, including children, who described beatings, filthy living conditions and death.
Bob Loughman had previously called for Jakarta to address allegations of human rights abuses in the region, while China’s largesse has been one of the factors leading to Pacific island nations speaking up about Indonesia’s handling of its restive easternmost provinces.
The stakes are high for Indonesia’s capital city of 10 million people, as experts say the country is still in its first wave of infections.
US soybeans are especially favoured by producers of tempeh, an Indonesian soybean cake that’s seeing a rise in global demand as a meat alternative.
The struggles of low-income ethnic Chinese families are often overlooked in Indonesia, where there’s a belief that all Chinese people are rich.
As Indonesia marks 75 years of independence this month, many young Chinese Indonesians citizens are getting involved in politics and activism to do more to help develop the nation – but old prejudices still remain.
Some social media users falsely claimed one of the children on the new note was actually wearing a Chinese outfit, in the latest episode of disinformation targeting Beijing and the country’s ethnic Chinese minority.
President Joko Widodo says the proposed bill would simplify overlapping regulations, attract foreign investment and boost the economy. Celebrities and influencers are promoting it but thousands of protesters disagree.
The Environmental Justice Foundation found the Indonesian workers it interviewed experienced wage issues, excessive overtime and physical abuse.
‘It is still effective to accuse people of being communists to bring them down.’
It has the highest Covid-19 death toll in East Asia outside China but Indonesia is keen to start getting travellers back as several provinces including Bali are dependent on tourism to survive.
China’s official news agency shared a video saying batik is a craft ‘common among ethnic groups in China’, sparking anger among Indonesians and tapping into regional disputes over the origins of batik, nasi lemak and rendang.
An aromatherapy device can ‘kill’ up to 80% of the virus, according to an Indonesian minister. But scientists are sceptical – and some Indonesians fear becoming a ‘laughing stock’.
Indonesia is shifting to the ‘new normal’ as the economy restarts and it looks to reopen its borders to certain countries. But health experts are cautious.
More than 900 foreigners, the bulk of them Chinese nationals, have sought permits to stay on the island since travel restrictions were imposed.
Some activists say a moratorium is necessary while Beijing and Jakarta probe the deaths of four Indonesians working aboard Chinese fishing vessels.
After two months with no income for its tour guides or owner, Jakarta Food Traveller starts virtual tours of some of the Indonesian capital’s lesser known attractions.
