I am not a great fan of beauty pageants but I do know beauty when I see it.
Here are two new stories which have just come across my Indonesia news story search.
Rather striking that they appear at the same time.
Still, I suppose (hope?) that Indonesia drags itself kicking and screaming toward some sort of modernity.
Here’s the point (in a strange sort of way): Miss Sandioriva IS Miss Indonesia. She IS NOT Miss Aceh.
THE BEAUTY
from the BBC 10.12.09
Aceh outrage over Miss Indonesia
By Karishma Vaswani
BBC News, Jakarta
Qori Sandioriva crowned Miss Indonesia on 9 October 2009.
“Clerics in Indonesia’s conservative Muslim province of Aceh say they are outraged that an Acehnese woman has won the title of Miss Indonesia.
Qori Sandioriva, 18, won the Miss Indonesia title on Friday, beating 37 other contestants for the crown.
The clerics say that by failing to wear a veil during the competition she has betrayed her Acehnese roots and brought shame to the province.
Aceh has special autonomy in Indonesia and has implemented partial Sharia law.
It is the only province in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, that follows these laws.
Qori Sandioriva was born in Jakarta but has an Acehnese mother. Thanks to her mother’s connection to the province she was able to enter the competition as Miss Aceh.
But Islamic clerics in Aceh say she has misrepresented her region.
They say she should have worn a veil during the competition, in keeping with the traditions of her mother’s province.
Teung-ku Faisal Ali, the secretary general of Aceh’s Ulama Association, told the BBC that anyone who represents Aceh must uphold the province’s values.
He said Qori Sandioriva did not wear a veil during the competition and therefore did not represent the Acehnese people, who have strong Islamic faith and values.
When asked about not wearing a veil during the competition, Ms Sandiorova said she believed hair is beauty, and that she is proud of beauty.
The controversy is likely to return next year when she goes on to compete in the Miss Universe contest where she will have to don a swimsuit as part of the pageant.”
AND THE BEAST
(photo: AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
New Indonesia stoning law is ‘torture’: rights group
JAKARTA — A new law mandating death by stoning for adulterers in Indonesia’s deeply Islamic Aceh province advocates “torture” and should be overturned, US-based group Human Rights Watch said Monday.
“Stoning and flogging constitute torture in any circumstances,” Human Rights Watch Asia head Elaine Pearson said in a statement.
“Imposing these draconian punishments on private, consensual conduct means the government can dictate people’s intimate lives.”
The law — which also allows punishments of up to 400 lashes for child rape, 100 lashes for homosexual acts and 60 lashes for gambling — was passed unanimously last month by lawmakers in the staunchly Islamic region.
It has yet to be approved by the provincial governor and is opposed by the central government in Jakarta.
The law, based on local interpretations of Islamic or sharia law, is supposed to replace elements of Indonesia’s criminal code.
It allows the death penalty for a married person and 100 lashes for an unmarried person found guilty of adultery.
Human Rights Watch urged the central government and a new incoming local parliament in Aceh to overturn the law.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, told AFP the law would not come into effect without the approval of Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, who has stated his opposition to the law.
“Even if local government approves it, if the central government thinks it’s not in line with national law, the central government can ask it to overturn or annul the law,” he said,
“The central government wants to make it clear that the law and legislation at the provincial level should not in any way contradict the law and legislation promulgated at the national level.”
Aceh had previously adopted a milder form of sharia law in 2001 as part of an autonomy package from Jakarta aimed at quelling separatist sentiment.
Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia’s 234 million people are Muslim, but the country also has significant Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Confucian minorities. Most local Muslims practise a moderate form of the religion.”
