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his refers to an article titled 'Religion and politics take center stage in Indonesian pageants', (The Jakarta Post, Sept. 27) by Salim Osman.

You state: 'The Muslim contest was also in line with the local culture', but you miss the point that the Miss Muslimah pageant is also a way of asserting control over what is meant by 'local culture'.

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, 'the essence of diversity is that different groups of people have different social and cultural norms. Thus, if the competition avoids violating anybody's cultural norms, it can never be a showcase for diversity, but only an exercise in conformity to the standards of the least tolerant group.'

To be more accurate, both the Miss World and Miss Muslimah competitions actually violate the standards of the least tolerant groups in regard to women's dress, which are that certain groups of Muslims require the complete covering of faces. But these groups are still on the social fringes and are considered culturally Arab rather than Indonesian.

In reality, when people talk about 'respecting Indonesian norms' they mean conforming to the rules set and enforced by Indonesia's own powerful social leaders. Hence, there is a constant struggle among people and groups seeking this power to set and enforce 'Indonesian norms'.

Seen in this light, the banishment of the Miss World pageant to Bali and the acceptance of the Miss Muslimah competition in Jakarta make perfect sense. Mainstream conservative groups like the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Muhammadiyah and so on show the world that Jakarta's values are their values.

Manifestations of non-Islamic culture, like Miss World, may be acceptable in non-Muslim Bali, but in Jakarta beauty contests must conform to 'local values' i.e. supremacist Muslim values.

Of course eventually Muslim groups would like to include Bali in the 'Dar al-Islam' too, but for now they proceed pragmatically, step by step.

Equally, conservatives might not really like the Miss Muslimah competition, but it avoids disenchanting 'moderates', many of whom might find the Miss World pageant rather appealing. It also provides an opportunity to calibrate exactly what standards are 'acceptable Jakartan culture' in the fields of dress, comportment and cultural diversity.

Miss Muslimah contestants do not answer questions in an effort to appeal to a global, inclusive  culture, but based on the Koran, which, Muslims fondly assert, is 'above everything', and needs to be seen to be above everything!

Thus, the outcome confirms the trend of success for cultural oppression seen in the cancellation of Lady Gaga's visit last year. This trend is likely to continue for various reasons. First, cultural oppression has been 'in the genes' of Indonesian politicians throughout the Sukarno, Soeharto and would-be Islamist eras.

Second, the top priority of Indonesian politicians is to preserve a space for corruption, which precludes legal guarantees of freedom and promotes compromise with bullying and threatening groups.

Third, many Indonesians preserve a post-colonial mentality that sees conformity as a bulwark against the 'threat' of 'foreign' cultures, including cultures geographically indigenous but outside the mainstream.

Fourth, most Indonesian Muslims intuitively accept that 'more conservative is more Islamic', given the weakness of most liberal Islamic positions. In fact, many 'moderates' appear to be diners at a restaurant buffet picking and choosing which bits of the Koran they would like to consume and which they will set aside.

Whether one chooses to call these factors 'religious' or 'political', the net effect is a reduced space for tolerance, diversity, creativity and innovation.

John Hargreaves
Jakarta