Bigot Ban Hurts Jakarta Business – Creeping Shariah Continues!

 Well, there I was, just offering a rare nugget of good local news…

Bravo Densus 88 – Three Down, But LOTS More To Go! 

…when along comes some bad news, at least for normal folks, so I’m bound to take a look at this too.

oooooooooo

   angkots

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I was on the angkot going through Tanjung Duren the other day, and noticed that the local Sevel branch – the Seven/Eleven on Tanjung Duren Barat Satu –  had closed down.

It must have employed at least half a dozen people so perhaps a harsh holiday season for them and their families.

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Another Sevel, in South Jakarta….don’t know if it’s still open or not!

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But it was only today that I read in the Jakarta Post WHY this closure may have happened. 

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More 7-Eleven stores close down amid alcohol ban, high operating expenses

As the JP report reminds us, the dolorous decree  –  a regulation on the control of alcohol in April last year in a bid to “protect young generations from the dangers of alcohol” –  was ‘relaxed’ just over a year ago, in a move that handed the rights to control alcohol production, distribution and sales to regional administrations, including the Jakarta administration.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/12/22/more-7-eleven-stores-close-down-amid-alcohol-ban-high-operating-expenses.html

But you can take a walk round the mini-marts here in West/Northwest Jakarta anytime and not find a single bottle of Bintang  or any other brew on sale.

No reason ever offered for such poor customer service, though I suspect the staff may be afraid of the kind of ignoramus white-shirt louts…

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….who think they have the right to raid and intimidate businesses which don’t conform to their primitive intolerance.

So the ridiculous diktat against selling a cold beer on a hot day is not only inconveniencing blameless citizens, many of whom used to sit around Sevels after work to let the traffic ease off before going home, but is also damaging the country’s economy.

And no nonsense, please, about protecting the young from the demon drink! ID checks would prevent under-age drinking and let the rest of us enjoy normal life. 

But the bigots don’t care. They are intrinsically opposed to fun of any sort, and intent on imposing their own sectarian prejudice on the rest of us.

‘You’re Only An Adult! It’s Past Your Bedtime!’ Jakarta Rules, OK? 

And unbelievably, the Indonesian national parliament is pressing ahead with a nationwide prohibition policy…

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…which could see us arrested and put behind bars for having a lager in our back-yard or even keeping some liquor indoors to offer guests who drop by.

This is a process that has been called Creeping Shariah.

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‘Creeping Shariah,’ Warns Prof. Muhammed, As Jakarta Dims! 

It certainly looks very different from the Mental Revolution promised by Presidnet Jokowi during his election campaign.