Reformasi Dispatch

Strategic rivalry finally engulfs ASEAN and Jakarta's policymakers must examine their choices.  Joining the pod is the National University of Singapore scholar Evan Laksmana.  Also: Jeff and Kevin discuss developments in three politically significant corruption cases, prospects for re-opening Bali, and acrimony between the administration and mainstream NGOs. Get a free trial of the Reformasi...

Policymakers seem exceedingly slow to embrace the mounting advantages of photo-voltaic technology for Indonesia's pressing energy needs.  The head of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) details the compelling logic for supplanting coal with solar power.  Also: the Aukus pact directly benefits Indonesia by helping ward off one-power hegemony. Plus: prospects for a limited cabine...

The head of Indonesia’s premier institute on infectious disease joins the pod to explain the Merah Putih Vaccine program and discuss prospects for subsequent waves of infections.  Covid related topics include clinical trials, boosters, genome sequencing work, and new variants.  Also:  Amnesty amnesia?  Prone to confusion, new tax compliance initiatives could go awry.  Jeff and Kevin also discuss t...

HSBC’s regional economist for Asean joins the pod to look at how Indonesia can preserve confidence and restore fiscal prudence despite having extended its extraordinary debt financing through 2022.  Apropos the matter, Jeff and Kevin review developments in parliament’s 2007 General Tax Law revision, which business interests are resisting.  Also discussed: what the acquittal of the coal tycoon Sami...

.Also: Prof Noor Ismail on domestic terror networks.  Also discussed: PAN joins Widodo's alliance and the first of a two-part segment on extraordinary debt financing or 'burden sharing'. Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at: https://bit.ly/reformasifree Support us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for ho...

A renewed push to open Pandora’s box of amendments – potentially scuppering direct presidential elections – narrowly failed, for now.  Jeff and Kevin discuss the actors, aims, party stances, and ‘Trojan Horse’ stratagem.  Also:  an interview with  Aim Sinpeng of the University of Sydney regarding methods that online hate speech perpetrators use to evade platform controls.  Finally, a look at PDI-P...

 Jeff and Kevin discuss the new Charta Politika poll showing the Central Java head ahead of both other major potential contenders for president in 2024.  Ganjar Pranowo is the figure with momentum at present – as well as the most upside potential.  Given his gubernatorial record and his earnest approach to reform, the trend bodes well at an early stage of the momentous election process.  Also: the...

Margaret Barry, The Bali Children Foundation founder explains the struggles of schooling in disadvantaged communities amid the prolonged pandemic. Also: Jeff and Kevin discuss political machinations that persist despite the crisis conditions gripping the country. Get a free trial of the Reformasi Weekly Service at: https://bit.ly/reformasifree Support us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi It takes a lo...

Breakthrough deaths underscore a need for Coronavac efficacy data.  As cases tumble in Jakarta and western Java, most off Java provinces are spiking – Jeff and Kevin examine the trends.  Also: how governors have fared politically and the latest maneuvers of Maharani and Moeldoko.  And, a setback for geothermal energy?  Finally, a look at encouraging FDI growth.  Joining the pod from New Delhi is t...

Jeff and Kevin conduct a 30-minute interview in English with the leader of West Java’s 50 million residents on 23 July.  Gov Kamil provides a thorough overview of crisis conditions and describes measures to manage an acute shortage of healthcare personnel.  Also, the provincial government’s initiatives to extend telemedicine, free vitamins and drugs and basic social assistance for the poor.  The g...

Case detections are declining on a moving-average basis in Jakarta and, more recently, nationwide.  Jeff and Kevin discuss the trends and the restrictions outlook in light of a newly released study of antibody prevalence in Jakarta.  Also: findings from the Survey Institute (LSI) regarding President Widodo’s approval rating and public perceptions about vaccination.  Finally, CGM CIMB Securities He...

Bob Herrera Lim, Southeast Asia risk analyst for the consultancy Teneo, places Indonesia’s precipitous, unabated case spike in a regional context.  With the most vaccinated people per capita in the region (save Singapore), Indonesia poses a test for how well Sinovac’s Coronavac vaccine fares against the now predominant Delta variant.  And while a public health crisis in Malaysia precipitated the d...

With Java in the grip of a long-dreaded case spike fuelled by the Delta variant, the government is attempting to impose the strictest curbs applied to date.  Jeff and Kevin review the latest conditions and examine the implications.  Also: a round-up of political and justice issues including a test of free speech, charges for a former minister, the Omnibus’s first court test and the Chamber of Comm...

Several countries have higher daily caseloads, but Indonesia has the sharpest spike underway.  Many delta-driven transmissions may be going undetected, especially with patients queuing for beds in hospitals on Java.  Tighter restrictions take effect on 2 June, but should the president do more?  Jeff and Kevin discuss the pandemic with the University of Indonesia Professor of Epidemiology Dr. Pandu...

Simon Flint, The 1,000 Days Fund Co-Founder explains the causes and effects of below-par growth in under-fives – something that affects nearly one in three Indonesian children.  He explores the role for NGOs in supporting the Widodo Administration’s high-profile anti-stunting campaign.  Also: Jeff and Kevin discuss the case spike, the government’s assorted handling efforts, and implications for th...

Charlie McCann, The Economist’s regional correspondent covering Myanmar, illuminates conditions endured by the Burmese, prospects for change and the role played to date by neighbors including Indonesia.  She details economic deterioration, civil disobedience, and trends in the conflict between a People’s Defense Force (PDF) and Gen Hlaing’s Tatmadaw.  Certain distinctive traits of the military are...

The province that arguably constitutes Indonesia's political heartland gave rise to the current president as well as a potential successor: Gov Ganjar Pranowo, who joins the podcast to delve into the management of his giant region - including the pandemic, welfare, investment, the environment, and governance. Also: Kevin and Jeff examine a failed waste-to-energy project and a grandiose defens...

Our exclusive interview with the renowned anti-corruption investigator examines conditions within the independent commission and considers what might lie in store.  Jeff and Kevin discuss President Widodo’s positioning on the dismantling of the KPK and how it affects operating conditions for investors.  Also: a welcome Tax Amnesty clarification from the finance minister; energy planners embrace re...

Robert Blake, the former US ambassador, enumerates factors that are slowing deforestation and examines prospects for US-Indonesia engagement on climate change.  Also: Jeff and Kevin assess a portentous Ganjar-Puan rift, a bold tax initiative and an exceedingly complex gas-to-chemicals project. Get a free trial of Reformasi Weekly Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/reformasifree Support us on buymeacoff...

Heroic investigators handed non-jobs in personnel winnowing.  Also: With nominating decisions just two years away, top provincial heads are clearly striving to elevate their nationwide profiles and boost their poll rankings.  At stake is the fundamental direction of Indonesia's democratization.  Also: healthcare preparations for anticipated post-holiday transmissions. Get a free trial of Refo...

A conversation with Michal Zrust, co-founder of Lestari Capital, about the Rimba Collective, which uses markets to drive verified ecological outcomes.  Also: Kevin and Jeff on investment inflows, the GoTo merger, the unshuffled cabinet, and revitalizing Jakarta's Kota old town. Get a free trial of Reformasi Weekly Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/reformasifree Support us on buymeacoffee.com/refo...

Cross Asean's Angus Mackintosh examines the digitization of consumption and what capital markets trends portend for recovery.  Also: a lost submarine, another Golkar scandal, bracing for a surge and a momentous summit on Myanmar. Get a free trial of Reformasi Weekly Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/reformasifree Support us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. Y...

Tiza Mafira of the Climate Policy Initiative discusses her upcoming documentary and dedicated work on single-use packaging waste.  Also: the mudik ban, an American vaccine-maker defies Indonesia's top regulator, the beleaguered Soehartos, a Wahid family comeback(?), and an overtly political new gun club. Watch the trailer of Pulau Plastik documentary here: https://youtu.be/PBhakv9DQFQ Get a f...

We interview Eurasia Group’s Peter Mumford to examine the web of linkages that might – or might not – affect outcomes in Myanmar.  Also discussed: a look at The Quad from Indonesia’s standpoint.  And Jeff and Kevin discuss Moeldoko’s failed gambit to take over Yudhoyono’s Partai Demokrat, another tragic church bombing, and Pertamina’s safety record. Get a free trial of Reformasi Weekly Newsletter...

Author Ben Bland discusses paradoxical leadership and we examine the latest in politics.  Also: China's signature project may face delay. Get a free trial of Reformasi Weekly Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/reformasifree Support us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and mu...