Conversation

Done with dating? Maybe it’s time to meet a matchmaker

For singles exhausted by swipes and first dates, matchmakers are offering something unexpected: perspective, not just a partner.

Culture and Entertainment

Can the mind behind ‘Jumbo’ capture our imaginations again with ‘Na Willa’?

Ryan Adriandhy made the biggest film of last year. This year, he’s following it with a 5-year-old girl and a radio.

Conversation

Bakti Barito nurtures future guardians via environmental education

A butterfly flaps its wings, and a storm forms half a world away: Called the butterfly effect, this theory highlights that sometimes the smallest change can trigger the biggest events.

Conversation

When the lights go out: What tiny fireflies teach us about healing the Earth

In a small Bali village, one man is trying to bring back the fireflies. His story reminds us that healing the Earth often begins with the smallest of lights.

The Neighborhood

When refugee kids couldn’t enroll, locals built them classrooms

Locked out of Indonesia’s education system and with their futures in limbo, refugee youth are finding hope in grassroots classrooms powered by Indonesians who chose to show up.

The Neighborhood

Beyond cleanup: A Sunday with Trash Hero Jakarta

It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of Jakarta’s waste crisis. But on this Sunday, I learned that every act of cleanup is also an act of resistance.

Conversation

What 25 centimeters of hair can teach you

At a salon in South Jakarta, I watched a woman cut her hair for someone she’d never meet, reminding me how simple acts could carry so much care.

The Neighborhood

A choir of strangers: The Jakarta singing club where everyone belongs

No auditions, no pressure, just voices rising together. At Nyanyi Bareng Jakarta, group singing creates a sense of community.

Culture and Entertainment

I wasn’t into nationalist orchestras, then Satoe Indonesia surprised me

What started as a rainy-night obligation turned into a nostalgic reminder that the songs of our childhood never really leave us.

Culture and Entertainment

Agak Laen returns funnier and warmer, but don’t call it a sequel

The team behind the highest grossing film of 2024 returns with a completely new world, this time with bigger mischief and deeper meaning.

Conversation

Exploring stories and their reasons with Xu Xi

The Chinese-Indonesian-American author reflects on who gets to tell a story, what makes a 'real writer' and what fiction is really for.

Culture and Entertainment

‘Dumplings and Dreams’: What a 14-year-old author can teach us about feminism and power

At just 14, author Hillary Aimee Srijaya is showing girls what it’s like to reach for your dreams, both on and off the page.

Culture and Entertainment

In Ratih Kumala’s 'Koloni', the revolution is tiny and female

Inspired by national struggles and everyday exhaustion, the Cigarette Girl author writes a story about ants that feels deeply human.

Away We Go

72 hours in Labuan Bajo: Everything you want in a quiet, luxury escape

Katamaran Hotel & Resort Komodo offers the combination of peace and luxury that’s getting harder to find in increasingly crowded Bali. For now, at least.