In 2022, we thought we could finally move on from all the COVID-19 coverage. But the pandemic was (and still is) a huge part of our lives this year, and Coconuts Jakarta readers often tuned in to keep abreast on all of the latest developments.
But it has also been a year that saw us tackle some important issues (as the top Coconuts Jakarta story of 2022 can attest to), as well as other important topics related to the kebaya (in more ways than one), and, of course, K-pop.
Without further ado, here are the most popular Coconuts Jakarta stories in 2022, in descending order:
What was arguably our most important piece of reporting in 2022 was also our most popular. Guest writer Kevin Ng went deep into the trenches inhabited by vile online predators, learning about how they systematically targeted Chinese-Indonesian women for sexual abuse. After six months of research, Kevin’s report is indeed troubling, yet essential if we can even begin to eradicate the internet of sexual predators.
It feels like millennia ago, but we started off 2022 with more doom and gloom as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus swept through the globe just as Indonesia recovered from the devastating Delta wave in mid-2021. And just as we were starting to be hopeful for international travel again, the government imposed border restrictions for travelers from high-risk Omicron countries. We sure are glad all of that is behind us now.
This is the first of our top stories involving the traditional top known as kebaya. Here, we reported on the arrest of adult content creators after their sex tape — featuring a woman in a red kebaya — went viral. We also look into why content creators risk years of jail time due to Indonesia’s harsh anti-pornography laws.
Our top story from 2021 was related to South Korean megastar Lee Min-ho. This year, the actor’s namesake did not quite reach the same heights but managed to crack the top four courtesy of this adorable story.
Another one from the bygone era of strict travel restrictions. Sure, vaccine requirements for travel still exist to some degree now, but the enforcement is nothing like it was in 2021 and early 2022. Please don’t make us go through it all again.
Why didn’t we think of it, right? One Indonesian man by the name of Ghozali proved to be a visionary as he made mundane NFTs before they were cool (and way before they became mundane again), to the point that his selfies were valued at more than US$1 million.
Indonesian culture being appropriated by its neighbors is always a touchy subject here. And when Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand made a joint UNESCO bid to register kebaya as a Southeast Asian cultural heritage without Indonesia, the outrage was inevitable. There is more administrative nuance to the notion that Indonesia was left out of its own party, though.
