`Jaipong becomes latest victim of porn law'

Thu, 02/12/2009 2:33 PM  |  Reader's Forum

Threatened heritage: Several dancers perform the jaipong dance that the West Java government is proposing (JP/J.Adiguna)

The controversial pornography law has been blasted for targeting cultural heritage, after West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan used it as a legal basis to forbid jaipong dancers from wearing "sexy" costumes and executing "provocative" dance moves. The West Java administration's ban has prompted severe criticism from artists and legislators who blast it as a move to curb the traditional arts and culture of local people.

Your comments:
If those so called lawmakers are so confident, why don't they allow a referendum allowing the provinces a choice?

Choice one: Immediate implementation of Sharia law and to become part of the Islamic Republic of Indonesia. Choice two: Independence for Bali, Nusa Tenggara Timor, Flores, West Papua and North Sulawesi. And, choice three: Continue as it is with economic stagnation, governance by remote control from Java, with eventual disintegration of the state anyway.

Iwan

Culture and arts will cry out, "Help me, please don't ban me, I am the only one that can make you proud of your country!" then, "But I have no power unless you can give me a law that can protect me!"

Ketti

Congratulations to the people of West Java. Finally, they have effectively promoted their jaipong dance, as proved by all the comments here. The tradition will go on, as actually the governor of West Java has not banned it at all. The issue of banning the dance is just rumor probably made up by its practitioners using the governor as the scapegoat.

Widodo Santoso

Surely, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan has better things to do than censoring jaipong. If he really thinks that forbidding jaipong dancers from wearing "sexy" costumes and executing "provocative" dance moves is more important than ensuring that the people of Sunda have clean water, good health services and schools and a chance of a job then perhaps it's time he found other employment.

Greg K

This is exactly what those opposed to the bill warned of, that it would be used by religious conservatives such as those in the PKS and the MUI for some Taliban-like cultural engineering. This kind of interventionism has nothing to do with protecting public morality and everything to do with imposing a Middle Eastern-derived interpretation of religion on the whole country. Before you know it, the FPI and other religious thugs will be busting up jaipong performances.

Muhammad Santoso

It just goes to show that the type of people that make such decisions need to be removed from government. You allow your country to be ruled by such people, and such people, in my opinion, are not capable of thinking laterally, they are dictators.

Don't they have anything better to do, such as improve the health system, improve the roadways and improve pollution problem etc, than focus on something like a cultural dance. Next, they will move to ban all dances in Bali as well, such as the Kecak dance, as that surely must be considered pornographic.

Michael Sellers

That's Indonesia, not appreciating its own culture. Malaysia would be happy to "patent" this jaipong dance as a part of their heritage.

Henry Halim

This ill-advised and ludicrous pornography law is going to cause a lot more problems yet. What about all the other traditional and cultural dances throughout the country - especially in Java? Get rid of it before it does any more damage!

Peter Lin

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