A Shade Too Opaque For Comfort

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A Shade Too Opaque For Comfort

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By John McBeth

JAKARTA (Sraits Times/Pacific Media Watch) - One of the more farcical events going on in Jakarta at the moment is the trial of the editor of the Indonesian version of Playboy, who has been charged with public indecency. But some people believe, tongues firmly in cheeks, that Indonesia's consumer protection agency should in fact be prosecuting him for misrepresentation.

Erwin Arnada faces up to 32 months in jail, if found guilty, in a trial that is being held behind closed doors - either to keep the supposedly lurid evidence from reaching tender ears or to ensure the proceedings do not become a target for radical Muslims.

The second reason may be understandable. The robed, selfappointed guardians of Indonesia's morals hurled abuse at one centrefold witness leaving the court recently, calling her a prostitute and expressing the hope that her daughter would be raped.

Prosecutors are also pressing ahead with indecency charges against the model who posed in lingerie for the magazine's first edition last April - something she had been doing for some time for any number of fashion publications and probably still is.

Islamic conservatives have been protesting ever since what they perceive to be the global icon of pornography hit the streets last April. But apart from relatively modest shots of women in swimsuits or underwear, none of the four editions so far has displayed one single glimpse of illicit flesh.

But politicians from the Muslim-oriented Reform Star, Justice and Prosperity and United Development parties, who never seem to miss a chance to pander to the extremist minority, have weighed in as well, labelling the magazine an insult to Muslim sensitivities.

Rock-throwing protests have forced the publisher to relocate Playboy's editorial offices from Jakarta to predominantly Hindu Bali. And, in the best tradition of the media, the magazine has kept on publishing despite being damned.

If the Indonesian edition is laughably tame compared with its Western counterparts, hardliners have, however, called last July's third issue even more vulgar because the cover featured a model wearing black panties and a grey jacket covering what appeared to be a bra-less upper torso.

The same protests greeted the new January edition, even though the cover picture of a model in a nightie does give real meaning to that old saying 'I only buy Playboy for its articles'. Readers are offered interviews with columnist Goenawan Mohamad, art collector Oei Hong Djien and musician Johnny Knoxville.

There is also a story about privately owned executive jets and a column offering advice on everything from trying to understand your wife to billiards, golf and the art of smoking cigars.

Sure, pretty girls are featured in three spreads. But only with marginally more cleavage than Australian Open champion Serena Williams was showing on the front page of a recent Sunday edition of Kompas, the country's most prestigious newspaper.

Hasn't anyone glanced recently at Indonesian fashion magazines or, more importantly, at some of the other 'literature' that graces the newsstands around Jakarta and is sold at almost every road intersection?

Ignore the hard-core pornographic videos sold illegally in stores across the country, or racy tabloids such as Halo Bos that leave little to the imagination. What about the more mainstream men's magazines? This month's issue of Popular, for example, shows more cleavage than Playboy has ever done.

Then there is the latest FHM (For Him Magazine), with an extremely suggestive fashion layout called Midnight Treat - featuring handcuffs and the kitchen sink - and a giant centrefold of two bikini-clad Australian beach bunnies flashing more bronzed flesh than the Indonesian Playboy has churned out in four issues.

Even Men's Health manages to slip in a full-page portrait of an Indonesian model in scanty black lingerie and showing off cheeks that are not designed for blushing.

All the while, it is important to remember that Playboy has been charged with public indecency. It cannot be prosecuted for simply being part of the American magazine's worldwide stable and what that is supposed to infer.

It is also important to remember that Indonesians are not shy about discussing sex. Most magazines run 'help' columns devoted to the subject - one local sexologist even has his own talk-back radio show giving startlingly explicit advice.

The main feature in the New Year edition of Male Emporium is on mid-career sexual relations with the boss, with several other pages devoted to 'The Art of Masturbation'. To be fair, it also offers some good advice on wine.

The controversy over what amounts to pornography came to a head last year after a storm of protest over new anti-pornography legislation, heavily influenced by conservative Islamic thinking, which would have had the effect of changing the nature of Indonesian society.

Although it has since been revised by the same special parliamentary committee that was prepared to sign off on the original legislation, the new draft appears likely to only rekindle the debate.

Forget about the section on child pornography, which no one should argue with. Perpetrators face between four and 15 years in jail and a maximum fine of 500 million rupiah (S$84,700). They could also throw away the key for all we would care.

Similarly, with hard-core pornography, defined as 'the manufacture and depiction of sexual organs and/or the naked body and acts of masturbation and sexual contact'. Distributors face between three and 13 years' jail and buyers up to six years.

But then the Bill typically goes into soft focus on 'soft pornography', describing it as 'the depiction of the hips, buttocks and breasts'. Now, what does that mean, particularly if it earns 'those guilty' up to five years in jail and a 500 million rupiah fine?

Correct me if my years of observation are wrong, but women do have certain parts of their anatomy that are different from men's and those differences can be quite obvious. They can be obvious whether clad in pantsuits or the loosest of dresses, and even more so on fashion catwalks.

So we go back to the same problem that has seen the Constitutional Court throw out legislation crucial to the government's reform programme. Indonesian lawmakers simply seem incapable of precise, non-ambiguous language.

As in the debate over Islam, that leaves the door wide open for extremists to interpret the Bill according to their own notions of how Indonesian society should be. That is not a vision enshrined in the country's Constitution - or, if the outcome of past elections is any guide, in the minds of most Indonesian voters.

A PROBLEM OF PRECISION

Indonesian lawmakers simply seem incapable of precise, non-ambiguous language.

Ends

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