Opinion

Petty Elliott had a rare chance to stay at this jewel on Bali’s Ayung River. The patron saint of happy couples and blissful marriages would have been inspired. The word ‘love’ in all its interpretations is evident across so many aspects of this five-hectare estate on the west bank of the Ayung River, south of Ubud.

As its proponents will tell you, Valentine’s Day calls for an expression of love. That’s the one occasion where commercialization of love is condoned and couples are urged to splurge on material things to show their plus ones that they’re loved. But is Valentine’s Day reserved only for spouses or partners? Many would beg to

For those of you who are regular readers of this magazine you will know I regularly rant on about the traffic and how it adversely affects our lives, and try, in a very small way, to suggest things that could be done to improve our daily slog to and from work. We started the “My

This month we celebrate the achievement of our home city in being awarded four amazing awards by, I believe, the Central Government. Here’s the story, lifted directly from The Jakarta Globe. “The Indonesian capital’s administration has been awarded four awards, dubbed the Anugerah Pangripta Nusantara 2016 and the Millennium Development Goals 2016, for its outstanding

There are a lot of really good trekking places not that far from Jakarta for ‘over-urbanised’ people, but most people don’t know they are there and don’t get the chance to see dramatic landscapes and breathe clean air. On the other hand there are school students who are pointed at the hills and told to

As annoying as it is to remember to bring a cloth bag when shopping in a supermarket or convenience store, I fully support the recent imposition in Tangerang of the 200 rupiah fee for each plastic grocery bag. It is a small, sensible step not only to discourage the waste of hydrocarbons, but also to

The Embassy of Denmark in Indonesia together with the Foreign Policy Community Indonesia (FPCI) recently held their third #Ambassador1Day programme, which aims to strengthen the bilateral and people-to-people relationship between Indonesia and Denmark as well as raise awareness among students of the importance of international cooperation. To enter this exciting competition, applicants were challenged with

There are some things you can predict with certainty. Some  not at all. With organisation comes order. With order comes predictability. With predictability comes certainty. So where does that leave Jakarta? Well organisation has become almost impossible since so many crucial do- by dates have passed. The whole mass transit system is so totally behind,

Some fantastic new hotels and apartments have opened in Jakarta, proving that real world class quality is possible with the right planning, execution and financing! If you haven’t already visited them, head for Raffles Jakarta, with its amazing collection of art, The Four Seasons which has exceptional quality in its interior design, and the brand new Westin which also raises the quality bar

Brian Kershaw was never going to win a Nobel Prize. He was the sort of guy you watched whenever he did anything just to see how badly it would go wrong. He was, however, a very nice guy and a very hard worker so I didn’t mind having him as my driver’s mate when I

By the time you read this there will be a new Governor of Jakarta, or an old one reelected, or possibly a second round of elections if no clear winner emerges. I am not going to change my text to reflect either event. What will be will be. The person elected will have been chosen

One Friday night when I was 15 years old I persuaded my folks to let me go to my first party at a friend’s house. I promised on pain of death I would catch the last bus home at 10.30, but of course by that time I was hopelessly drunk after two glasses of cider