This first general history of the magnificent city of Jakarta covers four centuries to show that Jakarta's existence has been a constant clash between dream and reality. It traces the rise of this city from its early origins as a company town, through the Japanese occupation to Sukarno's rule and … [Read more...]
A History of Modern Indonesia
March 24, 2026 by
Although Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world, its history is still relatively unknown. Adrian Vickers takes the reader on a journey across the social and political landscape of modern Indonesia, starting with the country's origins under the Dutch in the early twentieth-century, … [Read more...]
The Longing
March 22, 2026 by
It is in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, in the 1950s, when Ah Lam is married off to Cheng Lei, the son of a wealthy merchant, to help improve her family’s situation as she is of age. Once settled in Surabaya, Ah Lam soon finds herself dealing with an abusive husband while raising her young children … [Read more...]
The Year of Living Dangerously
March 17, 2026 by
The year is 1965. The fiercely nationalistic government of the god-king Sukarno has brought Indonesia to the brink of chaos. Engulfed in the violence are Guy Hamilton, a Western journalist; Billy Kwan, his Chinese-Australian cameraman; and the young British woman they both love. Kwan's … [Read more...]
Trivia Kampung Sawah
March 17, 2026 by
IRZI localizes the urban landscape and its gestures within poetry through a somewhat different articulation—if poetry has long been merely textual. Rooted in orality, IRZI’s poetic practice possesses a rhetorical movement that is problematic in relation to its ethnographic character: moving from … [Read more...]