Published Work

News & Features


Stories I’m interested in often have to do with technology and its impact on business, society, and the environment. Or animals. Here’s a selection of publsihed work.

Ready to kick-start the climate-tech engine, SEA investors are still searching for the key—entrepreneurs

Climate tech is a new buzzword in the VC industry. Southeast Asia still lacks 'fundable' startups in the sector–so venture builder studios have started setting up their own.

Whose credit is it anyway? The tricky calculus behind Indonesia’s forest carbon projects

Companies worldwide are rushing to meet carbon neutrality targets, resulting in a growing demand for high-quality carbon credits. The business of selling of carbon credits, however, is still messy and controversial

Taring Padi: Bissiger Reis

Profile of Yogyakarta-based art collective Taring Padi for German art mazagine Weltkunst. The occasion was Taring Padi's highly controversial exhibition at Documenta 15 in Kassel, Germany. (In German)

The gig workers fighting back against the algorithms

Indonesian delivery drivers find creative ways to regain control over the algorithms that govern reputation and task allocation on gig platforms like Gojek and Grab

Aruna’s arduous mission to protect Indonesia’s small-scale fisheries

Aruna is a startup trying to help small-scale fisheries stay afloat as Indonesia opens its waters to large foreign fishing vessels. It raised US$65 million in venture capital but struggles to make lasting impact

Work hard, meme harder: How Indonesians are coping with startup hustle culture

Layoffs, work-from-home mode, and uncertainty during the pandemic left Indonesian startup employees disoriented. Many find comfort in following startup meme accounts on social media, which look at the darker side of startup culture with humour

Earning gig bucks: The Gojek-ification of Indonesia’s workforce

Indonesia is entering its demographic bonus decade with many young people and fewer dependents. But employment opportunities in the formal sector are scarce. This drives a generation of workers into the gig economy

Up for Grab? Gojek after Nadiem Makarim

Gojek's founder and CEO stepped down to take on a political office. How does that affect Indonesia's biggest tech startup?

Green activists vow to keep fighting Indonesia dam project that could wipe out rare ape

A story about the ongoing struggle to save the Tapanuli Orangutan in North Sumatra.

In Indonesia, cleaning up the Citarum, the “world’s dirtiest river” is now a military operation

This piece looks at the government effort to clean up the Citarum river in West Java.