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Duncan Graham

Duncan Graham

Pearls and Irritations

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Vast inequality threatens democracy

12.05.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

The learned solution: Fix problems with violence

Are you well-armed, fired up, pitchfork to hand? The quarry is elusive, his background suspect but we know his name – DV. Are we getting closer? ...

28.04.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

The court decides; doom to follow?

As predicted in Pearls & Irritations earlier this month, an appeal by the two losing candidates in the 14 February Indonesian presidential election...

25.04.2024 40

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Ok, Allah, we passed your test

There are five major and hundreds of minor religions in the world. But don’t worry – yours is the right one. – Anon After Christianity the...

15.04.2024 20

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Losers whinge, winners rule

A tip to take a wee shot at understanding the way of doing politics in Indonesia: Suspend rationality. Now imagine PM Anthony Albanese offering Scott...

08.04.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Unaligned – or undecided? Prabowo, China and US

This week Prabowo Subianto has been in Beijing at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. It’s the Indonesian president-elect’s first major...

04.04.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Playing the hunger games

The nightmare sprung to life: A gang. Worse, an Asian teen gang. An hour before dawn. I’m alone. With a bike. A dozen or more boys fired up with...

24.03.2024 8

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Things unsaid, people unseen

The irony was thick as lard. What an indigestible image for International Women’s Day. What an appalling advertisement for the Melbourne ASEAN...

13.03.2024 7

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Indifference killing democracy in Indonesia

A reason for Indonesians overwhelmingly supporting cashiered general Prabowo Subianto and a likely military dictatorship is because the electorate...

10.03.2024 7

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

The parade of talk going nowhere

ASEAN has been around for so long media outlets rarely spell the full name – Association of Southeast Asian Nations. That sounds significant and...

03.03.2024 6

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

The coming of the fear

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear. ― George Orwell (Eric Blair) Later this year...

29.02.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Keeping it in the family

Why did well over half the 200-plus million Indonesian registered electors choose disgraced general Prabowo Subianto as their next President? Duncan...

19.02.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Farewell democracy

There’ll be a good indicator – if not a firm result – by the time most Australians go to bed tonight. Then we’ll know if the ferociously...

13.02.2024 7

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Shafted by etiquette: Gibran deploys western sarcasm in Indonesian election

Just a fortnight to Indonesia’s big 14 February election and the mood is shifting as more than 200 million electors realise the reality –...

30.01.2024 6

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Why Indonesia is more monarchy than democracy

General Soeharto who ruled Indonesia for 32 years last century used to stage a ‘Festival of Democracy’ every five years. This was export quality...

19.01.2024 6

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Our leading lady in Jakarta is not leading

“So much for Australia’s engagement with Asia,” wrote former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer this month, punctuating a claim that the...

16.01.2024 8

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Goodish guy in bad company

Gibran Rakabuming Raka is smarter than his stolid Dad Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, President of our huge neighbour since 2014. As Vice President Gibran...

03.01.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Equality is risky – best stay with blokes

Indonesians have just witnessed a messy, badly produced TV ‘debate’ between the politicians jostling to run the world’s fourth largest democracy...

17.12.2023 9

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Facism – the fear that’s near

Could Australia face a fascist leader next door after the Indonesian Presidential election in February? That’s getting more likely as the polls...

28.11.2023 10

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

Indonesia’s soldiers: Back where they don’t belong

In Indonesia old soldiers never die; they just infiltrate civic affairs, then grab jobs from the worthy and talented young, slowing the economy.  ...

17.11.2023 9

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

The ghosts in the vote machine in Indonesia.

Indonesian politics is about personalities, not policy. Some among the 20,000 candidates for national and regional office at the globe’s biggest...

13.11.2023 9

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

In the beginning was the word – and the word was UWRF

Indonesia’s expanding dark side was hardly noticed by festival audiences at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF). But for all his domestic...

31.10.2023 8

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

How to choke EV use – car first, service later

Governments across the nation claim they want to reduce pollution. On their list are electric cars. Consumers are encouraged with rebates, tax breaks...

25.10.2023 6

Pearls and Irritations

Duncan Graham

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