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Text your say: No straddling motorcycles, please!
Readers Forum | Mon, January 07 2013, 11:02 AM A- A A+ Paper Edition | Page: 8
Your comments on the Lhokseumawe administration’s plan in Aceh to prohibit women from straddling motorcycles, arguing that it is improper in a province governed by Islamic law:
I don’t know if it is dangerous for me to express my opinion openly in Indonesia.
But I would say that there are more important things to do like erasing poverty, giving women equal rights, etc.
Hero
This is one of the reasons why I’m against the implementation of sharia law. Witty ulema (sharia lawmakers, whatever you call it) like to create silly laws that according to them, conform to Islam.
They might have a profound understanding of Islam, but they have a narrow vision of the world: Muslims can’t give holiday greetings to non-Muslims in Indonesia; women can’t drive cars in Saudi Arabia; women can’t straddle bikes in Aceh.
Rio Rivai
Common sense should prevail. Safety concerns are of the utmost importance in this case. Other countries are laughing at that administration because of this proposed law. People are funny.
Yoke Chuan Loh
What the authorities are doing is creating a peace order. Do not rebel or disagree if it is for your own good. Uphold the law as long as it does not go against sharia, which most foreigners, the illiterate, secular people don’t understand.
However, riding sideways is also not safe as it affects stability.
Wearing longer, side-split dresses like the Punjabis is better than wearing tight jeans/clothing.
Abd Shukor
Why are the Acehnese people so subservient to these so-called “lawmakers”? It is time for the majority of good, decent, modern educated people to speak up in defense of their rights and the women of the province.
Bruce Canardly
What a joke. They’re going backwards.
Arum sari
I hope the plan does not materialize since sitting sideways on a motorcycle is far more dangerous and will cause more accidents than straddling.
Taco de Vries
It’s the most ridiculous local bylaw since Tangerang Regency issued similar a bylaw that prohibited women from making trips at night.
Wasisto Raharjo Jati
They’ve gone back to the Stone Age.
Ning Widjaja
Our brothers and sisters at the western most part of our Archipelago still prefer religious law over the safety of women.
It reminds me of the late Kesi and her husband, the late Suprapto, who became our ambassador to Perth, Australia. She told us about how furious her relatives in Yogyakarta were when she rode her brother’s Harley Davidson.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati doesn’t straddle a Harley Davidson, but she is a powerful woman.
Do not underestimate our ladies!
Moeljono Adikoesoemo Jakarta
It is just another disgusting effort to discriminate against women.
Mei Bawotong Jakarta
