When beer starts to disappear
Indonesia’s Islamic parties have proposed legislation to ban alcohol consumption that could see offenders jailed.
Can Indonesia really ban alcohol completely?
At a bar in the Indonesian capital, Christine, Hassan and Dilta look at each other and burst into laughter. “No, they wouldn’t do that,” they agree. The three of them are drinking Bintang, the ubiquitous local beer that is to some a national icon.
They haven’t heard of the proposed nationwide ban on alcohol, which the parliament has agreed to examine. But they say there is no way it could pass. It’s not the first time small conservative parties have pushed for a full ban on alcohol in this Muslim majority country and previous attempts have always failed.
But Christine and her friends still look worried. After all, Indonesia did just ban alcohol sales in minimarkets and convenience stores.
While new regulations in Indonesia often take time to be implemented, and even longer to be enforced, the ban on the sale of alcohol at minimarkets has taken hold almost seamlessly. In Jakarta, beer and other alcoholic drinks have entirely disappeared from the shelves.
Alcohol is still available in large supermarkets, hotels, bars and clubs, but the new law would ban the production, distribution, sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks altogether and across the country. Offenders could face up to two years in jail.
Two Islamic parties submitted the draft bill, but those behind it say they’re more concerned by the people’s health than religious standards.
The sudden focus on alcohol has come out of nowhere. Indonesians are not big drinkers. True, beer sales have increased by 54 per cent over the past decade, but Indonesians are still among the lowest consumers of alcohol per capita in Southeast Asia.
Indonesian Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel, who is behind the minimarket ban, said the country needs to “protect our younger generation.” According to him, more and more people are complaining about alcohol being increasingly available in their community. The move, he says, was necessary to crack down on underage drinking.
The country’s child protection commission has also backed the full alcohol ban proposal, arguing it is “time for the government to be decisive and to take action to protect Indonesian children from drugs and alcohol abuse,” as the commission’s director, Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh, put it.
“Protecting the youth” has been high on Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s agenda, alongside a hard stance against drugs, demonstrated by the country’s recent execution of foreign drug smugglers, despite international condemnation.
Not everyone, however, is so concerned about alcohol’s impact on Indonesia’s young people. Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, for his part, has no problem with it. The governor has argued that the ban would encourage the illegal — and potentially deadly — sale of moonshine.