Author Archive for Ross at Indonesia Matters


Ross McKay has been living in or around Jakarta for eight years, and previously was a politician, among many other jobs. He graduated in Politics and Modern History, and took a post-graduate diploma in Soviet Studies (on the principle that a good doctor studies disease).

Become an author on Indonesia Matters.

Televised Election Debates

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009, by Ross. 2 Comments

Lacklustre televised presidential debates are a ruling class ruse, rails Ross.

Debt Collection, RCTI Reality TV Style

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009, by Ross. 16 Comments

Ross rails against the techniques of hospital debt collectors on reality television in Indonesia.

Women, Power & Politics

Monday, May 11th, 2009, by Ross. 57 Comments

Women in politics in Indonesia, women politicians and power.

Jakarta in Top Ten Worst Cities

Friday, April 24th, 2009, by Ross. 84 Comments

Is Jakarta one of the top ten worst cities in the world to live in?

Aceh Politics

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009, by Ross. 14 Comments

Who is behind the recent violence in Aceh, and the sharia laws, politics in Aceh.

‘Hareem’, Harem Love Stories

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009, by Ross. 15 Comments

Ross reels at the sight of TV soap Hareem, a harem love story, and wonders whether it is the worst sinetron ever.

Prosperous Justice Party

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009, by Ross. 26 Comments

Ross sees parallels between the Prosperous Justice Party/PKS, and the PKI of old.

Physical Appearance & Work

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009, by Ross. 55 Comments

Employers’ obsession with physical appearance at work.

Indonesian & Palestinian Refugees

Friday, January 23rd, 2009, by Ross. 12 Comments

Ross rails that faraway Palestinian refugees in the Middle East excite more sympathy than refugees in Lombok.

Mediation Process

Saturday, January 17th, 2009, by Ross. 10 Comments

Mixing Sundanese disco music and Islam is a recipe for trouble in West Java, and community “mediation”, as Ross finds out.

Evictions of Small Traders

Thursday, January 8th, 2009, by Ross. 19 Comments

Ross calls for a boycott of Blok M Square, as small traders are driven out.

Gestapo Tactics & Interrogation

Monday, January 5th, 2009, by Ross. 12 Comments

Ross rails that Gestapo style tactics and methods of interrogation are used by the sharia police in Aceh.

Examples of Media Bias

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008, by Ross. 23 Comments

Article on bias in the media, examples of Islamist bias on television screens in Indonesia.

Religious Differences & Pluralism

Saturday, November 29th, 2008, by Ross. 30 Comments

Ross on the bigotry of teachers of religion in Islamic schools, religious differences and tolerance of pluralism.

Lexie M. Giroth

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008, by Ross. 3 Comments

Ross rails forth against an ex-deacon of IPDN, Lexie M. Giroth, murder cover up convict and now promoted professor.

Tim Pembela Muslim

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, by Ross. 3 Comments

Ross lambasts the legal profession for its tolerance of the Tim Pembela Muslim (TPM), the Muslim Lawyers’ Team.

Justice & Injustice

Monday, November 3rd, 2008, by Ross. 12 Comments

Ross bemoans the fact that FPI leader Habib Rizieq was only jailed for 18 months.

Monarchy-Sultanate Form of Government

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008, by Ross. 47 Comments

Defending the monarchical principle in government and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta’s special status.

Idul Fitri Celebrations

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008, by Ross. 15 Comments

Confusion over Eid Al Fitr celebrations and what date they should be held on.

Wahidin Halim, Tangerang

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008, by Ross. 10 Comments

Ross on sharia lite in Tangerang and Mayor Wahidin Halim’s re-election bid.

Old Traditions & Customs

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008, by Ross. 55 Comments

The next target of Islamic fanatics will be old Javanese customs and traditions.

Subversive Groups & Patriotism

Thursday, August 14th, 2008, by Ross. 14 Comments

Ross questions the motives of subversive Islamic groups sensitivity over Papua.

Spiritual Discipline & Fasting

Thursday, August 7th, 2008, by Ross. 30 Comments

Ramadan approaches, again, and Ross complains that religious leaders are intent on spoiling others’ fun and livelihoods.

Death Row Inmates & Debate

Friday, July 25th, 2008, by Ross. 60 Comments

Sinister motives behind renewed debate over the death penalty and convicts on death row.

Dewi Perssik & Wong Telu

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008, by Ross. 7 Comments

TVRI is cheating the nation out of seeing Dewi Persik and Wong Telu.

Munir & Muchdi PR

Friday, June 20th, 2008, by Ross. 56 Comments

BIN chief Muchdi Purwopranjono’s arrest by Indonesian police over the murder of human rights activist Munir.

Good & Bad Citizens

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008, by Ross. 30 Comments

Frozen Assets - good citizens in suspended animation.

Jakarta Public Transport

Monday, June 2nd, 2008, by Ross. 11 Comments

Tips for travelling on Jakarta’s buses, the Jakarta public transportation network.

Sexy Dewi Persik

Monday, April 7th, 2008, by Ross. 24 Comments

Sexy dangdut singer Dewi Persik.

Curing Homosexuality

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008, by Ross. 79 Comments

The stance of Indonesian clerics against homosexuality and about curing it.

Jalan Jaksa Under Threat

Friday, March 28th, 2008, by Ross. 147 Comments

Jalan Jaksa in Jakarta is going to suffer re-development.

Self Publish Books in Indonesia

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008, by Ross. 3 Comments

How to self publish books cheaply and easily.

Literature Commissar

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008, by Ross. 57 Comments

Pramoedya Ananta Toer as a bullying commissar of literature.

Treason of the Intellectuals

Friday, February 29th, 2008, by Ross. 60 Comments

The lovely Julia Suryakusuma, and other intellectuals, commit treason.

Sharia Byelaws

Monday, February 18th, 2008, by Ross. 35 Comments

Sharia inspired bylaws in Indonesia.

Celebrity Jailbirds

Monday, February 11th, 2008, by Ross. 6 Comments

Thugs and murderers, celebrity jailbirds, Enrico Gutierres, Theo Toemion, and the lovely Lidya Pratiwi.

The Indonesian Way of Death

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008, by Ross. 11 Comments

The Indonesian way of death is too graphic.

Genocide

Saturday, January 19th, 2008, by Ross. 87 Comments

Whether there was a genocide in Indonesia in 1965 and what happened to the survivors.

Corporal Punishment

Monday, December 3rd, 2007, by Ross. 37 Comments

Corporal punishment in Indonesia, spanking and caning, and attempts to have it outlawed.

The Jakarta Post, or Pest

Thursday, November 15th, 2007, by Ross. 37 Comments

Whether the Jakarta Post newspaper is too left wing.

Metro TV Xin Wen

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007, by Ross. 62 Comments

Metro TV’s Chinese-language news service, Xin Wen.

Kampung Girls

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007, by Ross. 68 Comments

Ross wonders about Ramadan, lazy rich women, and why kampung girls are the best.

Jakarta Election Result

Friday, August 10th, 2007, by Ross. 5 Comments

Less than enthused about Fauzi Bowo’s election as Jakarta governor.

Aceh Abominations

Monday, August 6th, 2007, by Ross. 10 Comments

Ross asks whether the government is willing to bring some Muslims into the 21st century.

Climate Crisis Hits Jakarta

Thursday, July 26th, 2007, by Ross. 10 Comments

Ross complains that the global warming bandwagon has reached Jakarta.

Separatist Hysteria

Monday, July 23rd, 2007, by Ross. 9 Comments

Does Indonesia need a federal system, amid the separatist hysteria of late?

Anti Australian

Friday, June 1st, 2007, by Ross. 55 Comments

Governor Sutiyoso and anti-Australianism and street thuggery.

Security Forces

Monday, February 26th, 2007, by Ross. 12 Comments

The Indonesian security forces.

Overseas Workers

Saturday, February 24th, 2007, by Ross. 1 Comment

Hope For the Helpless? Overseas Workers Ordeals, by Ross.

PP 37

Monday, January 29th, 2007, by Ross. 11 Comments

The PP 37, a new law granting pay rises to parliamentarians.

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