Other Publications
House passes controversial anti-porn bill
Ati Nurbaiti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 10/30/2008 2:14 PM | Headlines
Cries of joy and shouts of Alhamdullillah (praise God) came from
the balcony of the House of Representatives' plenary hall as the gavel
was struck to mark the passage of the controversial bill on pornography.
Compared to those who supported the bill, those who opposed it only
occupied two rows on the balcony towards the end of the meeting.
Pro anti-porn law activist Lasmiantini of Salima (Muslim sisterhood)
said, "Insyaallah" (God willing), Indonesians will eventually
undergo a moral revival -- the basis of a country, and
later economic revival."
"We are very happy with the result of our struggle to protect children,
and also to protect women," said Lasmiantini, of several groups who
supported the pornography bill.
"If our husbands are (exposed to) pornography then our families will be destroyed."
"Now our children are safe," said Lasmiantini, chairwoman of Salima's Bekasi chapter.
With exposure to pornography contributing to instances of rape and
murder, the country was no longer safe for women and children, she said.
Lasmiantini said, under the new law, sinetron (popular television
serials) would have to be those "of quality" and contribute moral
value, such as the recent hit 'Laskar Pelangi' (Rainbow Troops) --
referring to the movie based on Andrea Hirata's biography of his
childhood.
In response to questions of whether she feared any excessive
implementation of the new law, while justifying state interference in
private matters, she said, "for good things, like an injection, people
are negative about it only because they fear it will hurt."
The activists cited revisions to the bill which they said would
guarantee that only pornography in the public sphere was regulated.
Meanwhile, Save Indonesian Children (ASA Indonesia) chairwoman
Wuryaningsih and a Salima leader both said, "We should work together to
watch out for any excesses."
"The law may not be perfect but it is a start ... We must protect our families," she said.
"We really hope that the (pornography) industry can be regulated."
In response to fears among women that they would become unwitting
victims of the law, Wuryaningsih said the issue of women was only
"political," as if Islamic parties were not behind the law.
"This has nothing to do with the Islamic parties," Wuryaningsih said.
What's On
- Festival of India
10/29/2009 12/15/2009 Balai Kartini & Umar Ismail Hall, Jakarta
- Imagemakers of the Future: Photography exhibition
10/10/2009 11/30/2009 Alila Ubud Desa Melinggih Kelod Payangan, Gianyar 80572, Bali - Timeless Change
11/05/2009 12/07/2009 Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Hotel Jimbaran, Bali. - Choreography of Colours; Sardono W. Kusumo's first solo painting exhibition
11/12/2009 12/12/2009 vivi yip art room Annexe Ciputra World Marketing Gallery Jalan Prof Satrio Kav 11, Casablanca
Meriam (not verified) — Mon, 11/03/2008 - 8:35pm
In small, remote villages in Bali, there are a few old ladies take a bath topless in the river or even in the water drainage by the street. Are they going to jail, too? And how about the people in Irian? Is the whole village going to jail,too?
Johnson (not verified) — Mon, 11/03/2008 - 3:00pm
Stop giving the government ideas last poster...the bill is bad enough as it is...haha
I'd like to know exactly how they plan to enforce this law? Are the police going to raid apartment buildings and private residences to check a woman's swimwear? The pool is outside after all. Will this increase the number of peeping-toms in the name of "pub(l)ic participation"?
What about gyms and sports clubs where female members wear skin showing sports wear?
Does this mean a ban on those streetside dangdut concerts?
Considering that this bill was passed primarily by Muslim parties, I'm curious to know if lawmakers are saying that Muslim men have absolutely ZERO self-control? If that's the case, why don't they just pass a Muslim-only law? If Indonesian Muslim men are so out of control, why not just say it instead of trying to pass an idiotic bill that makes no sense whatsoever and may end up doing a lot more harm than good to the general public and adding to the public mockery coming from abroad.
Anti-pornography laws should be just that, ANTI-PORNOGRAPHY as defined internationally...not as defined by a bunch of narrow-minded, uneducated, religion mongering, politically manipulative, hypocrites.
You'd think arresting a child molester (a Muslim cleric no doubt) who marries a 12-year old girl would be of more pressing concern? Or putting the Bakrie family in jail for the environmental and human catastrophe they caused near Malang. Or really making a serious go at anti-corruption by confiscating assets of those found guilty. Instead tax-payer money is wasted on this nonsense. Go figure. The ironic thing though is that I bet the majority of tax-payers that PAY THE SALARIES of this morons would vote against this bill. Yeah! My tax money at work for the greater good...oh pleassse...
Note to opposition: If you're going to walk out, at least MAKE SURE that there aren't enough people to pass a law. You can argue that by walking out you showed your opposition; WRONG - all of you did was WALK OUT, which is just as good as you voting for the bill...cause guess what? It passed! Walking out ONLY WORKS when you affect the passing of a law...
And can you believe that the president's "democratic" party voted for this bill? Where was the democratic process? When was this bill ever sent out for public forum or referendum? Does the president have no veto or is he refusing to exercise it in the name of votes? Why has he not said anything?
The Confused and Sad One... (not verified) — Mon, 11/03/2008 - 1:43pm
"We are very happy with the result of our struggle to protect children, and also to protect women," said Lasmiantini, of several groups who supported the pornography bill.
"If our husbands are (exposed to) pornography then our families will be destroyed."
"Now our children are safe," said Lasmiantini, chairwoman of Salima's Bekasi chapter.
With exposure to pornography contributing to instances of rape and murder, the country was no longer safe for women and children, she said.
----------------------
Oh... boy... this country is definitely going backwards, all the way to Medieval times...
Why there are people still blaming women and children for the cases of rape and murder that's going on?
What made these people think that now that the bill has been passed by the House, for sure women and children are safe?
Why on earth still no one in the government, sitting in the House, understands that EDUCATION is the key to any preventative measures, NOT banning of some things. It is just human nature, that the more it is banned, the more it is going to be used and abused. Why the hypocrites sitting in the House?
Yes, now that there IS law for anti-porn, I can hardly wait for just about ANYBODY using and abusing it to get the personal messages/agenda across. One of these days, when I'm wearing long pants but sleeveless shirt, will the police can just grab me and put me to jail? Or can I slip bribe money in his hands so that he will forget about wasting tax payers money in order to feed me while I'm in prison?
What about those kids selling magazines and tabloids by the traffic lights? Are they going to jail, too?
How about the owners/operators of Warnet? Clubs? Discos? Restaurants? Fitness Centers? Water Park in Ancol? The list goes on and on and on... and I'm not sure if we have enough space in all our prisons...
Or... maybe... this bill will be quickly forgotten and forgiven, just like the non-smoking ban in public places. No cigarettes, they're bad for you. No sex, they're bad for you, too! On the other hand, by all means, put your wife and your kids, all 4 of them on the motorcycle. Because we, the government, thinks that is NOT bad for you, therefore we're not banning that street acrobatic practice.
Just when we're all supposed to be just preoccupied in the midst of this global economic crisis (in which... sex does help release tension...), the House passed a laughing matter bill, just to cater to the very close-minded, selfish, ego-centric, backward thinking minority groups of people.
Whatever happened to "Unity in Diversity" set up by our founding fathers, to make sure that this country stays intelligent, through our ability to respect and work upon differences?
I'm very sad to what this country is becoming... sad, confused, and scared...
Miguel (not verified) — Mon, 11/03/2008 - 12:06pm
One of the anti-porn supporters said to the media: "The law is a start ... We must protect our families". Now the next steps that you need to follow to be consistent are, as follow:
1. Close all hotels and discos that have bartenders or employees with miniskirts, sexy jeans, etc.
2. Close all shops that sell lingerie or sexy clothing such as those you see in Plaza Indonesia, Gran Indonesia and Senayan City.
3. Ban operations of magazines such Femina, GOGIRL!, Heaven,
HotGame, The Peak, that promotes Western lifestyle and consumption values.
4. Ban operations of all bars in Jakarta such as BATS, Dragonfly, Centro, Stadium, Stix, X-lounge, Score, etc. since you can see women with provocative dresses.
5. Make sure all cable operators do not allow access to foreign programs and to locals that can promote sexual desire.
6. Make sure all Indonesian husbands stop visiting fashion shows, shopping malls, hotels, bars, spas, massage parlors, where women would exhibit obscene gestures.
If you encourage the Government to carefully follow this steps, I assure you Indonesia will be a public morality champion and world-wide we all will forget all dirt, corruption, poverty, misery, contamination, ignorance that this country has experienced for many centuries.
Do not waste anytime, do it now for the families of Indonesia.
Chuck U. Farley (not verified) — Mon, 11/03/2008 - 11:23am
Yes, with this law, our families are protected. Hurray!
Will the supply of porn material at well known location dry up, though? It is not because I need my fix, it is because I feel sorry for the sellers. In this tough economic situation, how else could they make money to support their families? Won't their families be destroyed?
Oh, well, casualties in war, right? They still can marry their 12-year-old daughters to rich old men to support their family. So, everybody wins, right?
Blairtheangel (not verified) — Sun, 11/02/2008 - 11:34pm
The bill is an insult to one self as a capable human being who should have a freedom of expression, an absolute control of how one will think, act and take care of themselves.
Enough said.
(But then again, since when people in Indonesia ever have freedom of expression...)
Unknown (not verified) — Sun, 11/02/2008 - 4:40pm
it's not our fault that you can't take care and satisfy your husband so that he has to watch porn and check out girls on the street.. you don't have to make the whole country pay for it..
the world doesn't revolve around you !!..
John Ralph (not verified) — Sun, 11/02/2008 - 9:55am
And Indonesia wonders why it is the laughing stock of the Islam world when their political parties have to pay people to come to parliament to chant - what hypocrites
Tia (not verified) — Sun, 11/02/2008 - 9:17am
why it should for WOMEN?!
how about MEN?
is it FAIR??
ask yourselves.
MIguel (not verified) — Sat, 11/01/2008 - 11:57pm
Now that the Indonesian Porn bill has been passed, morality will finally arrive to the country. It even smell cleaner and nicer.
I suggest its supporters to request from their representatives and the Government further coherence and consistent regulations to really believe Indonesia is committed and structured to fight “pornography” and protect morality from Evil, which clearly -as results illustrates- seem much more important than battling poverty, corruption, bad nutrition, public health, lack of infrastructure, clean environment, social and cultural development and so on.
Therefore, I suggest the extremist promoters of the law to be consistent with the new Porn Law and create more regulations addressing the following issues:
1. All historical sites, museums, temples, palaces, hotels, real estate complex, beauty shops, spas, retails, villas, massage centers, bars and discos that reproduce, exhibit or contain in any sense, by any mean, inscriptions, drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, videos, texts that may eventually in any circumstances incite obscenity, sexual exploitation and/or violate moral ethics across Indonesia shall be destroyed immediately without prior notice.
2. Moral ethics should be described as anything that politicians and PKS supporters decide to include.
3. The Porn law will not be applied and enforced to those willing to pay to Indonesian Police RP 800,000 per each object considered pornographic. Expatriates should be subject -as usual- to a minimum fine of RP 1,200,000 whether they violate the law.
4. Police with the support of PKS have total and exclusive right to determine what is pornographic and what is not.
5. Thus, Police and PKS will be entirely entitled to do whatever they want to review or evaluate those pornographic objects within private property at any time, in any case, at every hour people and enforce the law in behalf of people ans in the name of morality.
6. Politicians, PKS members, businessmen -who have contributed with funds to the PKS- would not be subject to this legislation.