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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.
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Andi Lim (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 10:08pm
this is bull! nothing to do with Islamic parties? yeah.. right..
Wdm — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 9:20pm
this is stupid legislation.
* rape, adultery, pre marital sex, sex with cows...will not be affected.
* the availability of pornographic material (print, video, internet etc) will rise, as will the explicit and degenerative nature. it's illegal, the price and profitibility goes up, more entrepeneurs will come on board. corruption will increase.
* in the case of rape, guilty men could avoid conviction because of the way the victim was dressed or behaved. a real man can control and take responsibility for his actions.
* it's discriminatory and against pancasila. i'm sure there's an avocat out there waiting/preparing for a constitutional challenge.this would mean that any subsequent charges are held in abeyance
* the definitions are so vague that a conviction would seem almost impossible. again i'm sure there's a legal eagle waiting to defend and take it all the way through the court system. likewise on subsequent charges.
for the record, i'm male, not a porn user/viewer. i regard sex as a participant, not spectator sport. i have friends who spice their lives with porn. none of them are rapists, adulterers or sexual deviants.
for the record, i'm a cynic. there's an election shortly. members can go home on the moral high ground having supported the bill. doesn't matter if it's challenged or overturned.
the old political maxim....
be seen to be doing something rather than doing something.
Sonnyj98 — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 9:01pm
The bill they pass today is like opening a parcel and you don't know who sent it or what inside of it untill you open it but you be thinking what can happen if you do..
This new law will most likely to abuse by some factions will start taking control etc and i can see that will be many problems with in the future like i can see that many woman will be divorce and increase of violents againgst them as this new could protect the men..
Many think i'm narrow minded about this but i'm worry what will hold for Indonesia in the near future as many tourist won't go there and this would discourage companies to invest there.
By the way i am white muslim and have an Indonesian muslim wife and ilove indonesia very much but this has gone too far with this new law.
I hope and pray who ever get elected next year throw this law out as this will hurt this country....
MadCat (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:57pm
"If our husbands are (exposed to) pornography then our families will be destroyed."
You have to love how it's always the husbands that can never do anything wrong. If Mr. Husband can't keep his willy in his pants and has to look at porn to get off, then that's Mr. Husband's problem, but nooo... let's just institute a bill that is so broad that wearing a bikini could be "provocative". Won't be long for the FPI and likeminded groups to start handing out their own form of "justice".
Probably the minute this happens to any foreigner, you will witness, again, a mass exodus of foreigners and foreign capital. Passing this bill has just reduced Indonesia from an up-and-coming economy to a medieval country.
Good luck with Visit Indonesia 2009, now with free Jilbab, and attracting that foreign capital. Shame.
Chubby (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:53pm
Congratulation to those idiota at the parliement. You moron guys succeed in disintegrating this country. Well Papua, West Papua, Bali, South Mollucas, North Sulawesi...say good bye to this Republic and reach your independent! Women..beware there will be "police" who will catch you if you don't wear your jilbab!
Balilover (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:52pm
"Now our children are safe," said Lasmiantini, chairwoman of Salima's Bekasi chapter.
Congratulation! The same people who supported this stupid law are now protecting their children and marry them to pedophile clerics when they are 12 years old or even younger. Does any of these people understand the meaning of the word protection?
Congratulation Indonesia again for electing such intelligent people to be your government. They might think they are alone in the world, but be careful , it might will come the day you are!
JustMe (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:47pm
Certainly porn-bill is something lot more important than economic related laws, even considering IDR and Indonesian economy collapse ... this country goes nowhere.
Ekyah (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 7:21pm
Reply to Saif:
The problem with people like you is that just because you were born in a country gives you all the rights in the country.
Example:
I paid more tax in Indonesia in the last 12 years then all employees I ever hired combined paid in their whole life.
You probably never paid anything. You rather keep our hands up and blame other countries for Indonesia’s failures
Ian from Australia (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 7:14pm
I was once a proud of my Indonesian heritage and now I waiver. I find this to be a very disappointing decision. Our country is indeed falling apart with corruption, religious fanatics, and ethnic division.
May common sense prevail and Indonesia be restored to it's former Majapahit glory, rather than it's current Arab wanabe status.
Saif: Gambling and pornography were already banned in Indonesia yet underground casinos and porno vcd/dvd's are readily available. Obviously it isn't working. This isn't protecting women and children. Other societies around the world have liberal laws and have a statistical low crime rate compared to Indonesia. This IS NOT protection. It's simply appeasing the conservative side of our society.
Tom Bali (not verified) — Thu, 10/30/2008 - 7:06pm
Indonesia, please educate your people, help them to understand and control their emotions and natural urges, help them to develop and to become responsible acting adults. Then you don't have to put a ban on human life!
Once upon a time there was a kind of real Pancasila in this huge and wonderful country. But who protects today the idea of “Unity in Diversity”? Now the hardliners come in to take over the steer, slowly creeping in, discriminating different ethnic groups and looking down minorities because “we are the majority”.
Apropos “to protect the children and families of this country”, how about to put a ban on hailing convicted terrorists? Because today this is a country where interviews with mass murderer Amrozi and his killer friends get aired on televison, a country where convicted terrorists get an one hectar memorial. And nobody stops them to do. How about to put a ban on these constant threats? To protect the children and families of this country!