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Your letters: Limitation of alcohol sales
The two letters below refer to an article titled âBeer to soon disappear from minimarketsâ published in The Jakarta Post on Jan
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he two letters below refer to an article titled 'Beer to soon disappear from minimarkets' published in The Jakarta Post on Jan. 24.
No matter how hard I try to spin this regulation to make sense, it just doesn't. Prohibiting small stores from selling beer (whose alcohol levels are only 1 to 5 percent) is more than counterproductive: it's an utter stupidity that stems from ignorance.
I feel hopeful every single time Indonesia is described as the 'world's third largest democracy' because it does sound cool, as democracy translates to freedom of speech and expression.
I pretended that the reputation was not merely the result of Indonesia's large population, but more than that, it actually implied how democracy had become a part of the Indonesian way of life.
However, it appears that all of that was only wishful thinking. I live in Bandung and even in this so-called 'party town', finding beers can be challenging at times, especially in the suburban areas.
With this regulation coming from the ministry, it seems like drinking beer will soon become a luxury.
My suggestion, if this is going to be a thing (prohibiting small stores from selling items a certain faction of the society dislikes), let's just prohibit them from selling anything at all.
If ignorance is the ideology, even a bottle of mineral water can be blasphemous.
Ravio Patra
Bandung
This is borderline sharia ' nothing more nothing less.
And, on top of it, this sharia-inspired law will not only apply to Muslims but will also be forced on those who do not adhere to Islam and/or are living in areas that are not Muslim dominated ' e.g. Bali, North Sulawesi, the Batak lands around Lake Toba, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Papua, etc.
Alcohol is these days already ridiculously expensive and basically for many people not affordable (e.g. a mediocre 70cl bottle of Australian Merlot or Chardonnay costs Rp 200,000, a one-liter bottle of Jack Daniel's Rp 500,000, a large bottle of Bintang or Anker, Rp 32,000).
I wonder if there are any valid numbers that can prove that with the massive increase in prices in the last years the amount of alcoholics (are there actually any here, except of course the oplosan [bootleg] ones?) has decreased.
I am actually quite certain that the number of people falling ill or dying from alcohol consumption (consumption, I mean, of awful oplosan) has increased, and that, with this new rule, the numbers will increase.
Malls are only to be found in large cities and tourist areas ' for the rest of the country all that will remain is bootlegged stuff. Maybe I'll have to switch to tuak, even though I don't much care for it.
Norris
Jakarta
