Indonesia’s financial markets are increasingly shaped not by balance sheets or disclosures, but by social media narratives. Over the past decade, a new class of market actors has emerged: financial influencers whose reach rivals — and sometimes exceeds — that of licensed analysts or brokers. When controversies surface, the recurring question is not only about individual wrongdoing, but about systemic failure. Who is actually responsible for supervising them?

Indonesia’s long struggle to reform its tax administration has once again been thrown into question. The recent corruption case uncovered by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) involving PT Wanatiara Persada, member of China’s Jinchuan Group, and the former head of the Kantor Pelayanan Pajak Madya Jakarta Utara exposes a disturbing reality: Indonesia’s tax apparatus remains deeply vulnerable to transactional governance at its very core.

When Indonesia temporarily blocked Grok AI, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI and embedded in Platform X, it did more than shut down a controversial digital service. It placed itself, willingly or not, at the center of a growing global experiment: how countries in the Global South govern powerful artificial intelligence systems built almost entirely in the Global North.

Indomaret Group, controlled by Salim Group, through PT Indoroti Makmur Bersama, has expanded its business line by opening Say Bread Bakery & Cafe’s first outlet in Cikajang, South Jakarta, following its first outlet in Tomang, West Jakarta two years ago.

Khofifah Indar Parawansa, East Java Governor has recently confirmed that the groundbreaking of Surabaya Regional Railway Line (SRRL) phase 1 double track project in Surabaya, the second largest city in the country, is scheduled for 2027. Khofifah conveyed this when receiving the German Ambassador to Indonesia, Ralf Beste, at the Grahadi State Building, Surabaya last week.

Rally of junk stocks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) continues. Shares of MD Entertainment (FILM) ended 2025 at Rp14,500, thanks to 80% gain in the last two weeks of the year. At that price, FILM was worth Rp158 trillion or 46 times equity (Rp3.4 trillion). 

Shares of PT Metro Healthcare Indonesia Tbk (CARE) closed higher by 4.64% to Rp790 on Friday (Jan 9) to make a market capitalization of Rp26 trillion. The company, which operates five hospitals, is now bigger than Hermina (HEAL), a bigger chain with 52 hospitals under management. 

Composite index of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) ended 2025 with 21% gain to 8,647. It needs another 15.6% gain to reach 10,000, which, of course, can easily be achieved. Last year, overpriced stocks with nearly one-third of the total market capitalization soared over 100%, while some even 1,000 percent or more.