John McBeth | March 27, 201
An Indonesia woman attending a recent anticorruption dialogue with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was surprised when a palace protocol officer approached her before the event and asked if she would move to the back row of seats.
The reason: She was wearing a dress, and a knee-length one at that. Encouraged by other participants, some of whom were also wearing equally modest dresses, the woman refused to budge. The aide did not press the point.
Later, the woman learnt from another palace official that "Ibu" — in other words First Lady Kristiani Yudhoyono — did not like women wearing Western-style dresses at presidential functions, only pants or the traditional ankle-length kebaya.
It was not so long ago that the pant suits favoured by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were considered unladylike. In fact, unlike the more decorative miniskirt, they were actually banned from the male-dominated United States Senate until the 1990s.
Mrs Yudhoyono's straight-laced, puritan preferences have come to light before. It is well known, for example, that she detested the Britney Spears-inspired bare midriff look, once popular among Indonesian teenagers.
But what makes this topical now — and the subject of considerable conjecture — is the President's sudden announcement this month that he is forming a so-called Task Force for the Management and Prevention of Pornography.
The daughter of legendary special forces Gen. Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, who was once embroiled in a scandalous extra-marital affair, Mrs Yudhoyono keeps a tight rein on palace affairs and is often described as Dr Yudhoyono's closest adviser.
Whether she was behind the latest initiative or not, it left a growing army of critics wondering about Dr Yudhoyono's priorities, with his Democrat Party besieged by almost daily corruption revelations and debate swelling over the raising of fuel prices.
If it was meant to distract the citizenry from these more pressing issues, then he clearly was not prepared for the ridicule heaped on the idea, including by a member of the Islamist Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS), who accused him of "lighting false fires."
The PKS was, in fact, one of the main proponents of the controversial 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, which prescribes various measures not only to curb the spread of pornography, but also the social behavior of Indonesia's independent-minded women as well.
Even its diehard leaders, among them Communications Minister Titaful Sembiring, must realize by now that putting a stop to pornography is mission impossible, akin to weaning Indonesians off cigarettes.
The latest Google Trends ranks Indonesia sixth behind Pakistan, Vietnam, India, Egypt and Morocco in Internet search requests using "sex" as the key word, while a more commonly quoted survey has it third in Web pornography downloads.
Pakistan, which also comes out on top in all categories of what can only be described as unusual sex searches, has seen a dramatic increase in the sale of illicit DVDs and CDs since efforts were made to block pornographic Web sites last November.
A similar trend has been noted in Indonesia in the wake of Titaful's much-publicized anti-pornography campaign two years ago. The fact that it has run out of steam may explain why the president is trying a new tack.
Chief Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, a senior Golkar politician and unlikely morality policeman, is nominally in charge of the new task force, but its day-to-day operations will be managed by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.
Golkar cannot have endeared itself to the cash-rich Religious Affairs Ministry when party chairman Aburizal Bakrie recently urged the government to allow private companies a share of the hugely profitable and graft-ridden business of arranging the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Suryadharma is not short of controversy himself. He has pointedly refused to enforce a Supreme Court order directing the reopening of a besieged church in Bogor, and only last January caused widespread alarm with inflammatory remarks about Indonesia's Shiite minority.
Editorial writers have predictably had a field day. "The government would do better to garner its efforts to eradicate corruption, rather than try to kindle passion in calming people's libidos," Tempo magazine said.
"There is a strong impression the government is focused on overcoming a wave of lust," it noted, pointing to a new House of Representatives rule banning its staff from wearing miniskirts.
This is the same parliament where dozens of members have been jailed for accepting bribes and other corrupt acts, and where one PKS lawmaker was caught by a long lens last year watching pornography on his laptop during a House session.
Making the whole issue seem all the more ridiculous was a photograph, splashed across the front page of the racy Rakyat Merdeka newspaper some days after the President's announcement, showing three Cabinet ministers posing with a group of miniskirted golf caddies.
A palace spokesman described the picture of Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, Mines and Energy Minister Jero Wacik and the Minister for the Acceleration of Development in Underdeveloped Regions Helmy Faisal as "indecent" and "unethical."
Leaving aside that over-reaction, Jero's presence was particularly sensitive because he has been one of the more vocal supporters of the 33 per cent fuel price increase, which critics claim will hit Indonesia's poorer classes the hardest
The reason: She was wearing a dress, and a knee-length one at that. Encouraged by other participants, some of whom were also wearing equally modest dresses, the woman refused to budge. The aide did not press the point.
Later, the woman learnt from another palace official that "Ibu" — in other words First Lady Kristiani Yudhoyono — did not like women wearing Western-style dresses at presidential functions, only pants or the traditional ankle-length kebaya.
It was not so long ago that the pant suits favoured by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were considered unladylike. In fact, unlike the more decorative miniskirt, they were actually banned from the male-dominated United States Senate until the 1990s.
Mrs Yudhoyono's straight-laced, puritan preferences have come to light before. It is well known, for example, that she detested the Britney Spears-inspired bare midriff look, once popular among Indonesian teenagers.
But what makes this topical now — and the subject of considerable conjecture — is the President's sudden announcement this month that he is forming a so-called Task Force for the Management and Prevention of Pornography.
The daughter of legendary special forces Gen. Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, who was once embroiled in a scandalous extra-marital affair, Mrs Yudhoyono keeps a tight rein on palace affairs and is often described as Dr Yudhoyono's closest adviser.
Whether she was behind the latest initiative or not, it left a growing army of critics wondering about Dr Yudhoyono's priorities, with his Democrat Party besieged by almost daily corruption revelations and debate swelling over the raising of fuel prices.
If it was meant to distract the citizenry from these more pressing issues, then he clearly was not prepared for the ridicule heaped on the idea, including by a member of the Islamist Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS), who accused him of "lighting false fires."
The PKS was, in fact, one of the main proponents of the controversial 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, which prescribes various measures not only to curb the spread of pornography, but also the social behavior of Indonesia's independent-minded women as well.
Even its diehard leaders, among them Communications Minister Titaful Sembiring, must realize by now that putting a stop to pornography is mission impossible, akin to weaning Indonesians off cigarettes.
The latest Google Trends ranks Indonesia sixth behind Pakistan, Vietnam, India, Egypt and Morocco in Internet search requests using "sex" as the key word, while a more commonly quoted survey has it third in Web pornography downloads.
Pakistan, which also comes out on top in all categories of what can only be described as unusual sex searches, has seen a dramatic increase in the sale of illicit DVDs and CDs since efforts were made to block pornographic Web sites last November.
A similar trend has been noted in Indonesia in the wake of Titaful's much-publicized anti-pornography campaign two years ago. The fact that it has run out of steam may explain why the president is trying a new tack.
Chief Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, a senior Golkar politician and unlikely morality policeman, is nominally in charge of the new task force, but its day-to-day operations will be managed by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.
Golkar cannot have endeared itself to the cash-rich Religious Affairs Ministry when party chairman Aburizal Bakrie recently urged the government to allow private companies a share of the hugely profitable and graft-ridden business of arranging the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Suryadharma is not short of controversy himself. He has pointedly refused to enforce a Supreme Court order directing the reopening of a besieged church in Bogor, and only last January caused widespread alarm with inflammatory remarks about Indonesia's Shiite minority.
Editorial writers have predictably had a field day. "The government would do better to garner its efforts to eradicate corruption, rather than try to kindle passion in calming people's libidos," Tempo magazine said.
"There is a strong impression the government is focused on overcoming a wave of lust," it noted, pointing to a new House of Representatives rule banning its staff from wearing miniskirts.
This is the same parliament where dozens of members have been jailed for accepting bribes and other corrupt acts, and where one PKS lawmaker was caught by a long lens last year watching pornography on his laptop during a House session.
Making the whole issue seem all the more ridiculous was a photograph, splashed across the front page of the racy Rakyat Merdeka newspaper some days after the President's announcement, showing three Cabinet ministers posing with a group of miniskirted golf caddies.
A palace spokesman described the picture of Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, Mines and Energy Minister Jero Wacik and the Minister for the Acceleration of Development in Underdeveloped Regions Helmy Faisal as "indecent" and "unethical."
Leaving aside that over-reaction, Jero's presence was particularly sensitive because he has been one of the more vocal supporters of the 33 per cent fuel price increase, which critics claim will hit Indonesia's poorer classes the hardest
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