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The trouble with Valentine's Day
Every year, Indonesians get into a spat about Valentine's Day. The Jakarta Post talks to those who celebrate it and those who think it's a sin.
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A group of Indonesian Muslim students take part in an anti-Valentine's Day rally in Surabaya, East Java, on Feb. 14, 2019. Anti-Valentine's Day rallies are not uncommon in Indonesia, where some conservative Islamic groups have denounced the day as un-Islamic, as well as promoting promiscuity, casual sex and consumption of alcohol. Other groups, meanwhile, claim that Valentine's Day is an influence of foreign culture.
(AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
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s Valentine’s Day approaches and pink decorations start to adorn corners of various spaces, we are once again reminded that the recurring Indonesian controversy of celebrating Valentine might be more familiar to us than the holiday itself.
Early last year, the Bekasi Education Agency in West Java even sent out an official letter prohibiting Valentine’s Day celebrations “in and around the school areas”, encouraging teachers to keep an eye out for those trying to do so. A similar letter was sent by the same authorities from Bangka Belitung Islands to local schools, proclaiming that Valentine’s Day would “destroy the morale and character of students”.
It’s curious that a day supposedly celebrating love is so divisive. Beyond the extremity of boycotting the occasion, however, are nuanced takes on how people truly feel about Valentine’s Day.
Into it/not into it
“I’m quite indifferent to it, but I veer more toward not liking [Valentine’s Day],” said Ilham Akbar, a 17-year-old high school student from Bandung, West Java. The day, he said, suggested that love was only expressed once a year, even though expressing your appreciation to a loved one could be done every day.
“Furthermore, I feel that the occasion is used to solicit sex from one another between the younger generation,” he added.
Aside from cultural and religious reasons, he said he was opposed to sex between people his age over concerns such as unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases.
