ID :
20048
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 20:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/20048
The shortlink copeid
BALI TOURISM BIZMEN REJECT PORNOGRAPHY BILL
Denpasar, Indonesia, Sept 17 (ANTARA) - Balinese tourism businessmen affiliated to the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA) reject efforts in the central parliament to revive the Pornography Bill because the proposed legislation spells the demise of Bali's tourism industry, a spokesman said.
"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 here Wednesday.
Earlier, members of Bali's Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) had also expressed opposition to the bill.
Purwa said the Pornography Bill which some parties in the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta were reportedly trying to reintroduce contained articles harming the tourism industry.
For example, he said, one of the articles 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, "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.
Therefore, Purwa said, ASITA would collect and mobilize all the strength it had to fight the bill.
Earlier in the week. members of Bali's Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) expressed the same strong sentiments against the bill.
"The Pornography Bill which some House members want to table again is very discriminative. Therefore, we must reject it," Made Arjaya, chairman of the legislature's Commission I, said.
He said the bill was especially discriminative against women. Under one of its provisions, a woman wearing a swimming suit at a swimming pool would run the risk of being criminally prosecuted, he said.
The bill did not tolerate the country's cultural diversity and Bali's provincial legislature would therefore continue to do its best to prevent the bill from ever becoming law, Arjaya said.
"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 here Wednesday.
Earlier, members of Bali's Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) had also expressed opposition to the bill.
Purwa said the Pornography Bill which some parties in the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta were reportedly trying to reintroduce contained articles harming the tourism industry.
For example, he said, one of the articles 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, "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.
Therefore, Purwa said, ASITA would collect and mobilize all the strength it had to fight the bill.
Earlier in the week. members of Bali's Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) expressed the same strong sentiments against the bill.
"The Pornography Bill which some House members want to table again is very discriminative. Therefore, we must reject it," Made Arjaya, chairman of the legislature's Commission I, said.
He said the bill was especially discriminative against women. Under one of its provisions, a woman wearing a swimming suit at a swimming pool would run the risk of being criminally prosecuted, he said.
The bill did not tolerate the country's cultural diversity and Bali's provincial legislature would therefore continue to do its best to prevent the bill from ever becoming law, Arjaya said.
