Matahari Department Store In Ramadhan Knees Panic?

Traffic in Jakarta yesterday was a delight, a real change from the usual nightmare.

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The USUAL!

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First day of Ramadhan, so kids off school, people staying home for family fun. It took me under an hour to get from home to Blok M, where I’d a lunch-time rendezvous with some Indonesian friends. I say lunch-time rather than lunch, because they were fasting.

Arriving way too early, I decided to hang out at JCO with my recently acquired IPad and have a non-fasting coffee while communicating with important folks overseas.

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Oh no!  JCO no longer has a Blok M Plaza outlet!

Never one to waste a trip, I went downstairs and bought some potatoes in Giant supermarket.

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Then, in case there might be handy discounts in Matahari, I ascended to that fine department store and….

HUH?!?!

One of the joys of shopping there has always been their personnel department’s choice of staff.

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Matahari shop assistants are almost without exception very pretty. Their uniforms – as above, though I didn’t take that photo myself –  comprise red tops and black skirts, look smart ,and, while not overtly sexy, enhance the employees’ good looks.

But when I entered, I saw to my dismay that the girls have all been TROUSERED!

Needless to say, I made enquiries and was calmly informed that they had been ORDERED to abandon the skirts for the duration of Ramadhan.

Can this be true?

My further enquiries, if this bizarre diktat applied to only Muslim staff or was it being imposed on Christian, Hindu or Buddhist girls  – who obviously do not, and are not required to, observe the Islamic Holy Month –  went unanswered.

Either the people I spoke to didn’t know or were unwilling to say more.

This is worth asking about, given the fuss made every year by Islamist fanatics, when stores ask staff to wear Santa hats.

Jemaah Ansharusy Sharia, which aims to spread leaflets about the ban on use of Christmas  accessories by Muslims. In the leaflet, JAS forbids Muslims to help Christians who were preparing for Christmas.

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Outfit NEVER seen in ANY Jakarta mall!

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They also appealed to employers not to force Muslim employees to wear Christmas accessories.  http://www.harianindo.com/2014/12/19/34805/fpi-meminta-agar-perayaan-natal-tidak-menganggu-pemeluk-agama-lain/

‘FORCE’ is surely the key word.

If Matahari girls want to wear trousers, at Ramadhan, because they think a glimpse of their nice knees might distract the devout from the introspection demanded by their creed at this time of year, okay, that’s one thing.

I find it unlikely, because the uniform skirts are perfectly respectable, hardly micro-minis. Even so, they can take their case to management.

But for management arbitrarily to order a cover-up of ALL knees?

What’s wrong with knees anyway?

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 In Sumatra, Knee-ophobia Rules! No Knees is GOOD Knees! 

Well, lots, according to certain authorities on the subject!

Fear And Loathing of Knees In MaIaysia, Truly Arabia! 

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I don’t expect Jakarta’s somewhat lack-lustre journo pack to pursue the issue, but would be happy to hear from anyone with info, or just an opinion.

Oh, and did Matahari supply the trousers, or did the girls have to pay for them? Another question to which the answer might seem obvious.

But in Jakarta, nothing is quite as predictable as it ought to be!

PS.

If you do drop by, the effort will not be entirely wasted, Some of the SPGs – as is usually the case with SPGs –

Jakarta Fair – SPGs Alone Make PRJ Worth The Trip! 

– are still dressed in very feminine skirts!

Shock News From Falatehan – Top Gun No More?

Just got a news flash from Falatehan, the short jalan in Blok M once described tongue-in-cheek by expat revellers as ‘The Street of Dreams…’

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…famous, or infamous, for its dodgy bars, dodgy women and dodgy taxis, as one ancient put it when I was still new here.

An sms arrived ten minutes ago to say that Top Gun is said to have shut down!

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This place was one of the oldest bars on the Blok, established before I appeared on the scene not far off twenty years ago, always crowded back then…

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…and lots of fun.

I won’t this morning recount my own outings, merely give you the link to all the bars here in Jakarta and you can inspect others’ views. http://www.jakarta100bars.com

So if Top Gun truly has passed into the annals of night-life history, then it may soon be time to start writing an epitaph for the whole street.

A tempora, a mores….

G

Job Fair, Blok M, 28/29 November

‘Thogut?’ An Evil Extremist Stabs Two Muslims!

… the two police officers were completing their prayers at Falatehan Mosque, across from the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta, when the assailant suddenly stabbed the officers using a bayonet. The suspect stabbed the officers after shouting, “Thogut!”

Thogut is an Arabic word for those who worship anything other than God.

Demonic savage, obviously, shrilling hate, and it’s sad about those injured cops.

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But the good news is that..

…the suspect ran to the nearby Blok M bus station. When another police officer fired a warning shot, the assailant turned around and ran toward the officer and tried, but failed to stab him while shouting, “Allahu akbar!”

He was reportedly shot dead.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/06/30/two-police-officers-attacked-at-mosque-.html

Good for that policeman!

It’s important to remember that the Indonesian Police have suffered many deaths and injuries at the hands of satanic sectarians. Ascension Day In Jakarta, As Satanic Evil Strikes Kampung Melayu! 

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But they also do a lot of good work.

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

One hopes they continue to take out terrorists, since regrettably there have, since the Bali Bomb Pigs were put down…

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Bali Bomb Pigs – three faces of evil

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…in fact been NO executions at all of such murderous scum, in disturbing contrast to the regular use of capital punishment against drug criminals.

Incredibly, numerous terrorists, like the one in the photo below…

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Terror at Sarinah

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Photo of an Evil Entity – Why Was It Unleashed? 

…are released instead of being put to death!

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Reading about such horrendous events always has more impact if you have personal knowledge of the scene of the crime, like that Sarinah Islamist terror outrage last year…

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Busy Blok M

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…and for many years, when I was working in South Jakarta, I’d pass daily through Blok M Terminal.

I also used to visit Mabes PolRI – the National Police Headquarters mentioned in the report – to have my foreign residence paperwork completed.

But of course there’s nowhere safe from evil these days, as many bereaved by jihadist monsters in London, Berlin and Paris can testify.

So today I am heading off into town, later to meet up with a few friends for a beer to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.

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Have a good Dominion Day!

 

Be Glamorous on Christmas, Blok M, Jakarta, 17 December

Job Fair, Blok M, 21/22 September

Blok M, Jakarta – Bye-Bye Highway, Hello Moon Rider!

That’s a sight you won’t be seeing again, since the Highway has changed its name.

I used to drop by there, especially on Wednesdays ,when the then managment showed lots of smarts by pouring free beer till ( I think) 8pm.

After guzzling a copious quantity, of course, nobody felt any overpowering urge to go home early, and we continued slaking our gargantuan thirsts till midnight or later, paying full whack with no complaints, certainly not to the lovely lasses behind the bar.

I haven’t been there for a year or two – why?

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Blok M’s Jalan Falatehan is now a pricey place, among other reasons.  

But from a friend I hear the new name is Moon Rider, and checking out their website…  http://www.highwaytoelle.com/ …it seems they still have quite a good deal, on Thursdays, FROM 8pm!

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‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free!’ 

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Moreover, from the illustrations on that website, there are still lots of lovelies around!

I can’t find any recent reviews, but there’s one on http://www.jakarta100bars.com/2010/04/highway-to-elle-bar-blok-m.html from the old days when the late Daryl  ran the place.

It sings the bar’s praises – one can’t fault the mellifluous prose!  

 

Pelacuran Dimana? One Law for the Rich!

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is recommending that the city administration legalize prostitution in certain areas…

 

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“Legalizing a prostitution site would be a solution because no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to eradicate prostitution. It will always exist as long as humans exist.” 

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Ahok’s proposal makes an interesting contrast to the approach of Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya, where the mayor last year ordered the shut-down of one of the oldest prostitution zones. the Doly district. 

Piala Dunia Dolly? Kupu2 Lawan Fanatik2? Who Needs World Cup Matches? 

But rather than debate the different approaches, how about the way it’s reported.

The Jakarta Post accurately notes that the hooker industry operates in plain sight and in various places across the city.

But then it offers a somewhat selective snapshot of these ‘various places,’ naming three here in Jakarta and one in Bandung.

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 Doly

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There are several illegal red-light districts in Jakarta, including Kalijodo in West Jakarta, Boker in East Jakarta and Bongkaran in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

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•  Kali Jodo
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• Well, Kali Jodo would be quite a site, or sight, if properly developed, using its potentially picturesque waterside location.
• But Ahok himself has threatened to have it erased. 
  

  Aduh! Adieu Kali Jodo? 

• However, as constituted at present, it is certainly not upmarket, though its little bars do serve a decent beer at a decent price. I know at least one expat who likes to drop by entirely for that reason.
• I’ve no info on the other two areas, but suspect they too cater for the low end of the market.
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• Hence I am moved to ask why the JP doesn’t name (and shame?) most of the upmarket hotels, 5-star variety, where slappers swarm, especially on ladies’ nights.
• After 10pm, when they weary of their Blok M endeavours, they arrive in droves, and those hotels are awash with rich foreigners…
  

  Islamist to Sexy Model: ‘Don’t Thank Me, Thank Allah!” 

• ….and even the occasional Islamist fanatic party functionary, like the one who became a headline last year!
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• – Blok M’s Jalan Falatehan
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• Nor is the intrepid reporter even seemingly aware of Blok M, where many, if not most, bars on Jalan Falatehan teem with kupu2 malam, ‘night butterflies, ‘ who aim to ensnare a moneyed expat.
• Not all expats here are moneyed by any stretch of the imagination, but in the eyes of the butterflies,and certainly compared to the poor local patrons at Kali Jodo, every foreigner is fairly affluent.
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• Nor is there any mention of Jalan Jaksa, a somewhat pale shadow of the night-life hub it was ten to fifteen years ago, but nevertheless a centre for back-packer budget travellers and the less affluent resident aliens, and thus for less avaricious girls on the make.
• It used to be a lot of fun, but is now being gentrified…boring, yeah?
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• If Ahok is serious in his aim to limit prostitution to one official centre, is he going to tackle what happens on those seamy, steamy streets, or in the expensive bars of those glitzy hotels?
• Doesn’t sound like it.
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•  SatPol PP
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• We see on our tv news, from time to time, ridiculous razia (raids) by SatPol PP civic militia, dragging hapless young (or not so young) ladies off on their trucks.
• But never yet have I heard of a raid on the fancy haunts of five-star tourists and businessmen.

He suggested that the city administration provide one apartment building as a prostitution site where visitors would need to provide identification… 

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•  Bajaj
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• ONE apartment block?

For a city of between ten and twenty million souls? Queues stretching a mile and a half down the road outside, where irate wives and girl-friends could cruise by in bajaj to spot errant menfolk and hand-bag them?

Methinks our good Governor underestimates the L.Q. of the  populace!

But Lust Quotient or not, methinks in reality that Ahok is not expecting to get too far with this scheme. 

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• “I understand that this idea would be impossible to implement, especially in our country where everyone claims to be pure from sin. But if anyone has a better idea, I would like to hear it,” Ahok said.

• Aaah, at least he’s not lost his sense of humour!
• And I do wonder if he’s floated this idea simply to annoy the IslamoNazi element, who hate him because he is not only a plain-speaker but also a Christian and an ethnic Chinese.
  

  Jakarta Jew-Haters Boo Chinese Christian Candidate 

• The white-shirt thugs of the ‘Islam Defenders Front’ are still mounting weekly demos to protest his presence in City Hall, so perhaps Ahok’s other words were meant as a jibe at their twisted view of women.
  

  Indecent Assault? ‘If You Don’t Like To Be Touched, Stay Home!’ – Islamist Fanatic 

• Ahok said that the city would also give “religious guidance” to the sex workers…
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If that’s the plan, let’s hope the city would make sure that the ‘religious guidance‘ would be ‘given’ by decent people – not foul fanatics.

I still shudder at the way West Java Police handed over defenceless children to rabid sectarians for ‘spiritual guidance!’Muslim School Burned by Angry Crowd – Police Enlist IslamoNazis to Counsel Kids! 

As the old song has it, best be leavin’ well enough alone!

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/04/28/ahok-suggests-legalizing-prostitution-certain-areas.html