Many Indonesian women from all walks of life have been brought up to connect
sexuality with love, and engage in sexual activities only with the man they
love, presumably their husband. A woman, it was believed, should not have sex
with a man unless she loves him.
By contrast, the same traditional view fully accepted the right of males to
have sex with any female they liked. In essence, females were only sexual
objects, designed for a man's pleasure. Even though the status of women may be
improving in modern Indonesian society, these traditions are still deeply
embedded in the culture.
The sexual mores consequent on this emancipation of the male Indonesian are not
difficult to imagine. Prostitution is not illegal. The 1913 morality law
introduced by the Dutch bans pimps and the trading of males or females under
age, nothing else.
But that might change. Adulterers, cohabiting unmarried couples and even those
who kiss in public could all become criminals if a new Indonesian penal code to
replace the old Dutch colonial law is approved.
The moral values within Indonesia's diverse cultures and subcultures vary
widely and there is no plan to impose the same savage restrictions on women as
the Taliban did in Afghanistan, for example. But eager officials at the Justice
Ministry, where the draft law was conceived several years ago, believe they can
legislate virtue and enforce the conservative morality of some vocal Muslims on
society as a whole.
The head of the panel that drafted the law said Muslim beliefs about decency
had influenced its decision. Neighboring countries with large Muslim
populations, such as Malaysia and Brunei, already enforce laws defining
"khalwat," or "close proximity," a crime akin to adultery for unchaperoned
meetings between Muslim men and women.
Though it is very easy, generally speaking, for an Indonesian man to divorce
his wife under Muslim law, those who impregnate women and refuse to marry them
would also be liable to imprisonment under the new law. The bill stipulates
jail terms for acts which are deemed indecent or are sexually arousing. Kissing
would be prohibited in public, as would going around scantily dressed. The
behavior associated with the wildly popular - and overtly sexual -hip-gyrations
performed by dangdut singers like Maria Eva and national idol Inul Daratista
would be equally verboten.
Indeed, the law, if passed and enforced, could make criminals out of the tens
of thousands of people who cram discos, night clubs and dangdut joints on
weekends in Jakarta and elsewhere. Jakarta's night life, while not as wide open
as that found in Bangkok's go-go bars, is just as permissive, with night spots
ranging from the posh to the plebeian opening late and grinding 'til dawn with
many nice Muslim girls joining the fun and often peddling their favors to men
they meet.
In the Dolly district of Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, the
sprawling low-end red-light zone has been a fact of life for decades. Almost
all the women are Muslim, as are the customers.
The new code, which is still being debated at the House of Representatives, has
93 provisions and is divided into 11 chapters. It also deals with pornography,
media, art and erotic behavior - any the bill defines as "indecent acts of
sexual exploitation."
Jail terms of up to 12 years are proposed for casual sex. Striptease artists
would risk two years' in jail but those caught deep in the act of sodomy or
oral sex could get between three to 12 years in jail. Simply cohabitating
without marriage could be punished by up to two years in jail.
Prostitution would be hard hit. The adultery provisions in the draft proposals
include a clause that could see married men who visit prostitutes doing up to
12 years in jail, though single men would get off lightly with only seven
years.
Morality is also behind a controversial push for an immediate anti-pornography
bill. Mainstream Islamic organizations warn of moral decay, while politicians,
long wary of alienating the silent Muslim majority, are backing a growing
anti-porn movement.
Those opposed to the bill include Christian leaders, former president Megawati
Sukarnoputri and her party, the PDI-P, the second largest in parliament, the
tourism industry and artists, cultural activists and human rights groups.
The latter consider the proposed bill to be a threat to freedom of expression.
They fear that the state will take control of the private lives of individuals.
Golkar, the largest party in the parliament, supports the bill. The party's
leader, vice president Jusuf Kalla, has said that while he supports the bill
its provisions should be restricted to dealing with those who profit from
pornography, such as magazine editors,
Playboy Indonesia, which contains no nudity, was forced to temporarily suspend
publication because authorities seemingly decided that Islamic militants should
be allowed to trample on press freedom.
The magazine's insipid first edition was launched in April to a blaze of
publicity, helped by weeks of warnings from hard line Islamic groups that the
publication would destroy the morality of the nation's youth.
The radical Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) on April 12 attacked the magazine's
office, smashing windows and injuring two policemen. The editor-in-chief Erwin
Arnada is currently on trial on charges of indecency over the magazine, and
could face up to three years in jail if convicted.
Baharuzaman, co-chairman of FPI, who filed the complaint against Arnada,
claimed in court recently that the magazine is "the world's icon of
pornography".
In recent years, the hunting season for these guardians of morality has been
Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, when they have been known to attack
nightspots and places of entertainment with clubs and mobs. Some bars disguise
their activities during Ramadan by pretending to be restaurants; others just
close up for the month for fear of being attacked by radical Islamic thugs.
When Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso formally closed down East Jakarta's Kramat
Tunggal brothel complex back in December 1999 he was moved to say that the
closure was a signal from God. "We are reminded that this is wrong and we
should go back to the right path," Sutiyoso at the time.
The reality was that the signals had come from FPI and other conservative
Muslim groups and Sutiyoso caved, in the process giving impetus to the drive to
force morality on the nation.
There is strong pressure from extremists, and even from moderate Islamic
groups, to merge mosque and state by having Islamic Sharia law imposed
nationwide. Already in place in a handful of provinces, if these faithful have
their way, Indonesia would be transformed into a very conservative society. In
Aceh controversial "Sharia police" have detained women for not wearing head
scarves and publicly flogged people for drinking alcohol.
Meanwhile, even without benefit of legislation, the saga of Maria and Yahya has
been grabbing plenty of headlines.
Apparently feeling they have the right to probe, police summoned the former
legislator to explain himself at Jakarta Police Headquarters this week over the
distribution of the video. Press reports say police also asked Yahya about
Maria's claim she had an abortion when she was two months' pregnant from their
affair.
Previously, police questioned him about his relationship with Maria and his
wife Sharmila. "I told police everything because I feel that I have been
treated cruelly," he said after the questioning.
Yahya's lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, said his client had no knowledge at all
of Maria having had an abortion. "But he confessed to having an affair with
her, for which he is now suffering the consequences by relinquishing three high
political positions," he said.
For now, that is all he will suffer. Future lotharios may not be so lucky.
The steamy video clip can be seen
here. (Requires QuickTime)
Copyright 2006 Asia Sentinel. Used with permission
