Latest news with #Sulawesi
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nickel Giant Tsingshan Cuts Indonesian Stainless Steel Output
The world's biggest maker of stainless steel has suspended some production lines in Indonesia, in a bid to support prices as sluggish demand and trade uncertainty weigh on the market. China's Tsingshan Holding Group Co., also the top producer of nickel that's used in the alloy, halted some stainless steel output earlier this month at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park on the island of Sulawesi, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is likely to support stainless prices, while pressuring the nickel market. Both hit five-year lows in April.
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Indonesian government's push to write official history slammed as 'authoritarian'
Read in Bahasa Indonesia Scholars have criticised an ambitious project by the Indonesian government to write an official national history, arguing a draft version omits key events, including some that involve President Prabowo Subianto when he was a special forces commander. Culture Minister Fadli Zon, a longtime loyalist of Mr Prabowo, has described the books as an "updated version" of the national story intended to become "the official Indonesian history". He said the project was necessary to incorporate new discoveries such as cave paintings on the island of Sulawesi that are at least 51,000 years old. It would also address misconceptions about Indonesia's colonial history, Mr Zon said, clarifying that not all regions were under Dutch rule for 350 years, as is commonly believed. Indonesia's Ministry of Culture said the official history was urgently required to establish a strong national identity, "eliminate colonial bias", and address contemporary challenges. Mr Zon described it as "a gift" to the Indonesian people to celebrate the country's 80th Independence Day on August 17. A group of academics and human rights activists last week visited parliament to express their opposition to a working draft that had circulated among journalists and historians. Former Indonesian attorney-general and human rights lawyer Marzuki Darusman argued the idea of one "official history" was problematic and gave the government the final say on all historical matters. "Who gives the government the right to take control and declare the final word on our identity?" he asked. Allowing the government to dictate history through a single perspective could pave the way for authoritarian control, Mr Darusman warned. Under the New Order dictatorship of Suharto, who was Mr Prabowo's father-in-law, there was an official history book used as the sole source of history education in schools until his regime collapsed in 1998. Senior historian Asvi Warman Adam said a civil society alliance — consisting of academics, activists, and historians — had reviewed the 2025 draft and concluded that it represented "historical manipulation". "Historical manipulation occurs when history is written to selectively highlight what benefits a regime," Dr Adam said. The ABC independently reviewed the draft history and identified notable omissions compared to the 2018 edition of Indonesia's high school history textbook. The government's account leaves out major events in Indonesia's contemporary history, such as the 1997 financial crisis, anti-Suharto protests and deadly crackdowns against them by his regime, anti-Chinese riots, and the eventual fall of Suharto's regime. At that time, Mr Prabowo was a powerful general and has since been dogged by accusations of human rights abuses and war crimes. He was stood down by the Indonesian military later in 1998 for his alleged role in the forced disappearances of democracy activists during that year. Other important historical events such as the 1928 Women's Congress, a landmark event for Indonesia's feminist movement, and the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung that united many countries from the global south, were absent. Dr Adam said these omissions indicated an attempt to shape history to serve political interests rather than presenting an objective and comprehensive account of Indonesian history. Bonnie Triyana, a historian and member of parliament for the opposition Democratic Party of Struggle, agreed that major events including human rights violations were missing from the new official history. He said a project of this scale should undergo public scrutiny and an open process involving a wide range of historians and academics, rather than being a government-commissioned effort. Mr Triyana told the ABC that an apparent rush to meet the deadline by August 17 meant the process had lacked transparency. In a meeting with the Ministry of Culture, Mr Triyana urged it not to classify the revised history as "official history" — arguing that would turn history into something that could not be criticised or corrected. The Ministry of Culture's director of history and museums, Agus Mulyana, told a forum in Jakarta last week that those opposing the national history project were "radical". "Lately, we have been confronted with narratives responding to the rewriting of Indonesia's history. The reactions come from those who … are radical," he said. "A group that came to the parliament said this project would cleanse past sins. I think this perspective can be considered a perversion. A historical perversion — misguided." Mr Zon, the culture minister, told parliament that Professor Mulyana's comments did not represent the ministry's official view. But he denied allegations of historical manipulation by choosing to highlight certain historical events. He said the revision process had already involved 113 historians and archaeologists from across Indonesia and there would be time for public feedback before the book was launched. Yet, the ABC understands that internal disagreements within the research team resulted in the resignation of at least two professors. One of them left after being asked to write about president Joko Widodo and Indonesia's new capital city, despite his expertise being in colonial economic history. "I was asked to write about Joko Widodo's period, but I declined because it is not my area of expertise," he said. "I have never researched it, it's too contemporary and the data is still unclear."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Video shows capsized ferry in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, not Sulawesi
"A ferry capsized at the Parepare Port, I hope there are no fatalities," reads an Indonesian-language Facebook post on April 25, 2025. The post includes a video showing people witnessing a ship slowly capsizing. Some voices yelling "God is Great" in Arabic are heard in the background. The same video was shared elsewhere on Facebook after a boat carrying eight passengers capsized due to extreme weather in the waters of Selayar Islands Regency, South Sulawesi. Indonesian media organisation Detik reported there were no fatalities during the accident (archived link). However, there are no official reports of a ferry capsizing at Parepare Port as of May 22. A combination of Google reverse image and keyword searches found the same clip used in a news report by Indonesian broadcaster iNews on February 21, 2021 about a ferry sinking in West Kalimantan's Perigi Piai Port (archived link). The circulating video can be seen at the 14-second mark of the video report, which says the the ship lost balance as passengers disembarked from one side and the docking rope broke. The video matches Google Maps imagery of Perigi Piai port, 1,300 kilometres (807 miles) away from Parepare port in Sulawesi (archived link). A video of the accident has also been geotagged at Perigi Piai port (archived link). Indonesian newspaper Kompas published a similar photo of the accident on February 20, 2021 (archived link).
Free Malaysia Today
19-05-2025
- Climate
- Free Malaysia Today
6 dead, 14 missing after landslide in Indonesia's Papua
Small-scale and illegal mining has often led to landslides in Indonesia. (AP pic) JAKARTA : Torrential rains forced a halt today to Indonesia's search for 14 missing in its easternmost region of Papua after a landslide killed six workers at a gold mine and injured four, officials said. The rains had triggered Friday's landslide, which hit a small mine run by residents of the Arfak mountains of West Papua province, said Abdul Muhari, the spokesman of Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency. Authorities will resume tomorrow their search for those missing after the disaster, which engulfed temporary shelters used by miners. The search effort was hampered by 'damaged roads and mountainous tracks as well as bad weather', Yefri Sabaruddin, the head of a team of 40 rescuers, including police and military officials, who retrieved five bodies, told Reuters. Travelling to the site required 12 hours from the nearest town, he said. Today's tally was updated from an earlier figure of one dead and 19 missing. Small-scale and illegal mining has often led to accidents in Indonesia, where mineral resources are located in remote areas in conditions difficult for authorities to regulate. The number of casualties could rise. At least 15 people died in the collapse of an illegal gold mine in West Sumatra province last September after a landslide caused by heavy rains. Another landslide in a gold mine on Sulawesi island killed at least 23 people in July last year.
