No Orgies in Aceh

[kingwilly]

In the context of other issues today, I think it's a non-issue.

I am staggered, seriously the most amazing comment I have read from an American yet, bar none.

[DanInAceh]

I am staggered, seriously the most amazing comment I have read from an American yet, bar none.

Errr, why? I mean, it's just my opinion. I doubt it's so very cruel, earth shattering or otherwise repugnant enough to merit being the most amazing. You sir are hyperbolic!

My point still stands. This is news not because of the action, conditions or victims but because of the PLACE. Happen anywhere else? We wouldn't even know it had happened. Happened in Aceh? Clearly a sign of a violent culture, despite the whole province having ten murders all year long.

So Aceh is a province of 4 million people, roughly the size of a modest city. Jakarta has a larger population and is, naturally much more densely populated. Last year, it experienced about 100 murders while having a total metro population of somewhere around 15-30 million, I can't seem to get an accurate figure on the population for the surrounding area.

So factoring in the fact that Jakarta is more densely populated and has more people, I'd say the two regions have a fairly low murder rate compared to some places like... my supposedly "safe" homeland, the United States!

Heck, Aceh even has a large number of assault rifles left over from the separatist fighting that ended in the last decade... and it still has a murder rate that is significantly lower than ANY American city. But when I speak to people from back home, they immediately recoil in terror when I tell them where I reside. "You live in Aceh, isn't that place dangerous?!"

It's not dangerous and I don't see any evidence that it's more so dangerous than any other region in Indonesia. But the Jakarta Globe seems to be making quite a bit of effort at proclaiming that this area is somehow a hotbed of extremism ready to boil over into a new Afghanistan.

Let's put it this way, when I can see the Jakarta Globe lamenting about murders happening once every 3 to 4 days in their namesake city I'll take back what I'm saying about their yellow journalism in Aceh.

[ricky_id]

Forced societal consensus I'd say. You break a 'rule', they'll dream of you doing anything that you may don't even think of doing in the first place.

[lantern]

Religiously inspired violence makes headlines the same as racially inspired violence. It's not just about the number of cracked skulls.

[DanInAceh]

Religiously inspired violence makes headlines the same as racially inspired violence. It's not just about the number of cracked skulls.

So you're saying that mob beat downs and robbing are of lesser importance because you perceive the issue at hand to be religious values?

How can we make a value judgment about that?

In both scenarios, someone ends up with a cracked skull. In both scenarios, the victim is likely innocent.

What makes one motivation for assault of lesser importance than the other?

[Puspawarna]

DanInAceh, if you believe the story is made up and therefore the journalist in question is a bad person for lying, that's one thing. We can argue about whether the story is true or not, but surely we'd all agree that if the journalist invented the story (complete with faked photo of a patient in the hospital!), that's wrong.

But if you are insinuating that the story is true and should not be covered because it casts your religious values in a bad light, that's a pretty indefensible position. Wouldn't the truly 'devout' response in defense of religious values be to condemn the vigilantes as not following the true word of Islam? The Prophet, PBUH, did not condone running amok, did he?

Based on your last post, the logical position is that we should be urging MORE coverage by journalists of violent acts, not less, so we can condemn it regardless of what motivated it. That would be fine by me - mob 'justice' is wrong regardless of the underlying cause. Why would you prefer that people remain silent in the face of wrongdoing, simply because your religious brethren perpetrated it?

[DanInAceh]

DanInAceh, if you believe the story is made up and therefore the journalist in question is a bad person for lying, that's one thing. We can argue about whether the story is true or not, but surely we'd all agree that if the journalist invented the story (complete with faked photo of a patient in the hospital!), that's wrong.

But if you are insinuating that the story is true and should not be covered because it casts your religious values in a bad light, that's a pretty indefensible position. Wouldn't the truly 'devout' response in defense of religious values be to condemn the vigilantes as not following the true word of Islam? The Prophet, PBUH, did not condone running amok, did he?

Based on your last post, the logical position is that we should be urging MORE coverage by journalists of violent acts, not less, so we can condemn it regardless of what motivated it. That would be fine by me - mob 'justice' is wrong regardless of the underlying cause. Why would you prefer that people remain silent in the face of wrongdoing, simply because your religious brethren perpetrated it?

He didn't fake the portion about the fellow going to the hospital. That's also reported locally.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be covered, I'm saying it's a nonissue. No one died, one person (possibly two if that guy got hacked) was injured. If we covered every bar fight and scuffle we'd have to sift through 1,000 articles to get to something meaningful.

I did, in fact, condemn the vigilantes in my first post when I said that they should be prosecuted.

Religion has very little to do with this story as far as I can tell. My posts have not been to defend my co-religionists, but perhaps I have been a bit overzealous in defending the Acehnese. It's my perception, and this may be an incorrect perception, that Aceh is unfairly depicted by the foreign (meaning from Java) press. Of course I am biased in that direction. I can fully accept that maybe my posts today have been influenced by Acehnese nationalism.

Based on my prior post, I think we should have less yellow journalism and less focus on truly unimportant local happenings. This is ok news for the local print magazines and papers. Anywhere else and I have to suspect the motivation for publishing it.

[rabbit_39]

"that Aceh is unfairly depicted by the foreign (meaning from Java) press"

What about visitors to Aceh? We've done several projects in Aceh and my Indonesian crew have come back with several stories that they've experienced first hand or witnessed first hand.

To me, it sounds like you're still new in Indonesia and Aceh and still has that idealistic view. Perhaps with time and an objective mind you'll see that even if not all is bad in Aceh, neither is it all good (or as good as what you think it is). Each of us have a view of the world that is colored with our own experiences. Perhaps you have experienced more of the good side of Aceh.

As to your comment about covering every bar brawl and fights in the news, you're right of course. But this story, even based on what you've said have been reported locally, is much more than a simple bar brawl.

[Snooky]

Par for the course. Aceh is after all the abode of peace. Don't forget that.

[john madden]

Snooky - you've apparently been living in Aceh for a while. Do you have any personal experiences to relate that might help to explicate the situation there in relation to this discussion?