By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, Sept 19 (ANTARA) - The House of Representatives (DPR) has finally succumbed to public pressure to delay the passage of a controversial pornography bill whose supporters had hoped would be a valuable Idul Firti (Muslim post-fasting month festivity) present if it were passed into law on Tuesday (Sept 23)
"We still need to popularize it and seek feed-back from the public," Chairman of the Pornography Bill's Committee Balkan Kaplale said here on Friday.
The DPR was previously slated to deliberate on and pass the bill into law on Tuesday (Sept. 23 2008) amidst pros and cons in the public.
"God Willing, the bill will be passed into law in a plenary session of the DPR next Tuesday," Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, a member of the porn bill drafting committee, said on Thursday.
However, as controversies arose on the plan, the passage of the bill was postponed. Up to now, pros and cons among factions in the House itself are also still taking place.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction had opposed the bill since the beginning. But other factions, such as those of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Democratic Pioneer Star Party have been fully supporting the bill.
The postponement of the bill will at least provide more time for the House to popularize the bill and to collect inputs from the public.
The bill had in the past few days drawn protests.
Balinese tourism businessmen affiliated to the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA) rejected the House's plan to revive the bill which had also been raised three years ago because the proposed legislation would according to them put an end to Bali's tourism industry.
"We, who work in the tourism industry, will be very disappointed if the anti-tourism bill is passed into law," A Purwa, chairman of ASITA's Bali chapter, said.
Earlier, members of Bali's Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) had also expressed opposition to the bill. This also sparked protest from Bali students.
Tens of university students held a rally outside the Bali Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) Monday expressing their opposition to the Pornography Bill in the central parliament.
In response to the pros and cons, the Women's study Center of the University of Gajah Mada (PSW UGM) said the bill needed multi-disciplinary approaches and studies before it could be endorsed.
"The studies are needed to define the subjects called pornography because the limitations of pornography in the bill are not yet clear," Head of the PSW UGM, Siti Hariti Sastriyani, said.
Article 1 in chapter I on the general provision of the bill defines pornography as materials which would arouse sexuality produced by human beings in the form of pictures, sketches, illustrations, photos, writings, sounds, voices, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, lyrics, conversations, body movements, or other forms of communication displays delivered in the form of various media communications or performances in front of the public that could arouse sexuality or violate social norms in society.
Those opposed to the bill are of the view that with such a definition, Indonesian traditional dances would be affected. According to Sastriyani, Javanese dances with the 'kemben' attire could be affected.
"Since the time of our ancestors, the dance has been performed with such an attire. Yet no debate on it has been raised since then," she added.
A Purwa, chairman of ASITA's Bali chapter also expressed concern saying that one of the articles in the bill forbade women to wear bikinis when at the beach to swim or sunbathe whereas this was exactly what female tourists normally like to do when they were in Bali.
A fact was that the possibility of engaging in beach activity was one of the main things drawing tourists to Bali and other parts of Indonesia, he said
"So, if the Pornography Bill is adopted, then Indonesian tourism is finished," Purwa said.
The bill would also ban dances like the 'lengang lenggok' (in which swaying movements dominate) whereas these dances were part of a local culture's attraction for tourists, he said.
Yet, not all are opposed to the bill.
A children's welfare activist and a noted author have urged the House of Representatives to pass the Pornography Bill after making some necessary changes to its substance.
"A law against pornography is urgently needed to protect our youngsters from pornography and its by-products," Inke Maris, general secretary of the Save Indonesian Children Alliance, said.
Pornography was a product of the commercial sex industry which could encourage criminal practices such as women's exploitation and sexual abuse of underage children, Maris said.
Therefore, the bill should be passed soon so it could further enhance the existing legislation that was protecting society from various social evils such as the laws on films, children's protection, people's trafficking and the press, she said.
The same opinion was also aired by Retno Setyowati Gito, chairperson of the Demography Research Center of the People's Service and Research Institute of Surakarta's Sebelas Maret University (UNS).
"We now need a regulation as everything has developed in a very vulgar way for children. This is a serious threat to kids' development," she said.
However, Maris suggested that the House's Pornography Bill Committee should give a clearer definition of the term 'pornography' so it would not cause confusion or misinterpretation in the future.
She also suggested that the bill's chapter 14 on arts and culture be deleted since traditional rituals must not be categorized as pornography.
"Chapter 14 about arts and culture must be entirely removed because it will trigger debates and misinterpretation among people," she said.
(T.A014/A/HAJM/17:30/a014) 19-09-2008 18:07:01
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