Jan. 8, p4

Hundreds of tourists have reportedly canceled trips to Weh Island in Sabang, Aceh, as the result of recent violence allegedly committed by local residence against tourists celebrating the New Year. A local regulation that banned the people in Aceh from celebrating the New Year has been blamed for triggering the incident.

'€œThe eviction and disturbance of tourists from our inn has tarnished and disturbed the tourism climate in Sabang,'€ the owner of Casa Nemo Inn, Gianluca Guidotti, said on Wednesday.

Your comments:  

There is no way that this was an isolated incident. It'€™s a risky move for tourism operators to draw attention to what is a broader socio-political force; Aceh'€™s conservatism. It calls to mind the old dilemma facing tourism in Indonesia. A cross-section of tourists in Indonesia shows us the vast majority travel to Bali.

And most tourists come to Bali expecting to be able to move around freely, respectfully, but sadly for Aceh, do not anticipate being subject to sharia restrictions. (Why would they?) With that said many tourists to Indonesia come from Malaysia.

Perhaps, Aceh could look at Islamic tourism and market Weh Island accordingly. I am not sure how that would augur for Weh Island and diving. Alternatively, the combination of Sharia restrictions and Western tourists is likely to continue reproducing these flare-ups.

AA Wo

We, three tourists from the Netherlands, were eyewitness to a taser gun attack on both local people and foreign tourists by a group of 20 men on the beach just outside the Casa Nemo bungalow resort we were staying at. We were just relaxing after our midnight swim, sitting on the beach, when a group of 20 men and boys from the local village (some not older than 15) stormed through the crowd of visitors on the beach right outside Casa Nemo. Some Chinese tourists were lighting a wish balloon at the time. This was at 12:20 a.m.

One man was carrying an item that was unmistakably a stun gun, judging by its shape, the zapping sound and electric blue light. He was shouting, '€œGet up, get up! No party for Muslims!'€

Threats were made to burn the bungalows. In a state of utter confusion, around 40-50 local visitors and foreign tourists alike scrambled up the stairs to the relative safety of the restaurant. One man filmed the entire event on a white tablet. We managed to hide against the beach wall adjacent to the steps.

The group of men rushed up the stairs and tasered two women: one staff member and one guest. Both are Muslim. Though we did not witness these attacks ourselves, there are several pictures of one woman, lying unconscious or in a seemingly un-reactive state.

As the rest of the crowd ran up the stairs, we fled to our beachfront bungalow, watching the events unfold from a safe distance. After a couple of minutes, the group of local men retreated back to the beach around the corner, some 20 m from our bungalow.

Alicia Lukardie

What a pity! Why didn'€™t we offer them alternative tourist destinations? We must make them aware that Aceh is only one small tiny dot in the archipelago and it does not represent the rest of Indonesia.

There are so many alternative destinations of heavenly tropical rainforest, volcanoes, beaches and resort islands with sunshine everyday, complete with excellent local delicacies and without fear of alcohol limitation. People are welcome to sunbathe and surf on the beautiful beaches of Parangtritis or Pangandaran.

Robby Kaware

These incidents need to be publicized as widely as possible. Unfortunately, it may be through causing economic damage to Aceh that this anomaly of sharia in tolerant Indonesia is corrected.

Kuninganan

I have traveled to Aceh and Weh Island multiple times over the years. In fact I just returned from Weh Island after celebrating the Christmas holiday there. I have always promoted Weh Island to other foreigners as a cheap alternative to Bali, Lombok or Bunaken. Weh Island is a fantastic place to be and lacks all of the excess of tourists that can spoil a holiday and is half the price of a five-day trip to Bali.

However, on my most recent visit I can honestly say that the atmosphere has changed. While in Banda my wife and I were confronted by the religious police. And upon arriving in Weh a local had placed an illegal loudspeaker to issue his own personal call to prayer 1 meter from our bungalow.

I was still able to enjoy my stay and traveled around the island meeting excited kids and helpful oma and opa who are all smiles.

It is such a shame that I must admit that I will never return to Weh: after all the infrastructure built by the NGOs falls into disrepair, after all the money from local and foreign tourists dries up, after the Indonesian government stops investing in them.

FG Wilhelm

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