https://www.scmp.com/rss/510511/feed Hafidz Trijatnika is a freelance journalist based in Palembang, South Sumatra. His work focuses primarily on environmental issues as well as law and human rights. His work has appeared in the Post, Mongabay Indonesia and CNN Indonesia en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Indonesian villager Mawi, 74, knows all the secrets of ensnaring a full-grown tiger. For five decades, he risked his life trudging deep into the jungles of South Sumatra’s Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS), setting up elaborate traps to catch and kill the animals. Studying telltale signs of their path, Mawi would look out for claw marks on a tree, faeces, or paw prints, then carve a 20cm hole in the ground and cover it with tree branches. He’d then tie steel ropes across tree trunks so that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3176748/indonesia-conservationists-are-hoping-save-tigers-giving-poachers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3176748/indonesia-conservationists-are-hoping-save-tigers-giving-poachers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 03:00:22 +0000 Budiman pulls off his oxygen mask and gulps for air as he surfaces from the water, stretching out his hand to Badarudin, who is waiting on the boat. From his back pocket, Budiman retrieves a sharp metal object that resembles a spear blade. It’s about 30 centimetres long, with a broken wooden base. The spearhead is the most interesting object Budiman has found during his two-hour dive in Indonesia’s Musi River. The others are mostly pieces of ceramics which will sell cheaply at the Cinde Weekly... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3158231/indonesians-diving-gold-ancient-sriwijaya-kingdom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3158231/indonesians-diving-gold-ancient-sriwijaya-kingdom?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Dec 2021 02:00:31 +0000 It is August 2021 and the sun is scorching in Darmo. A glance at the weather report on a mobile phone confirms what everyone here is feeling. “Temperature: 33C”, it reads. Darmo is a village located in Muara Enim Regency in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province. While the sun blazes above, the ground beneath smoulders. South Sumatra is home to the largest known coal reserves in Indonesia, and Muara Enim regency is particularly resource-rich. There are more than 77,000 hectares of coal concessions... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3155741/inside-illegal-peoples-mines-indonesia-where-coal-seen-gift-god?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3155741/inside-illegal-peoples-mines-indonesia-where-coal-seen-gift-god?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Nov 2021 03:30:18 +0000 For the past week, the name Akidi Tio and the hashtags #PrankNasional or #NationalPrank have been trending on social media across Indonesia as the country has been gripped by what appears to be a bizarre hoax. It involves a deceased businessman, a now infamous styrofoam board and a suspicious 2 trillion rupiah (US$140 million) donation meant to help with the Covid-19 pandemic response in the city of Palembang, South Sumatra. The strange sequence of events began on July 23, when the South Sumatra... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3144178/indonesians-baffled-suspicious-2-trillion-rupiah-donation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3144178/indonesians-baffled-suspicious-2-trillion-rupiah-donation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Aug 2021 06:30:20 +0000