Nov 25 2009
Indonesia Has Gone All Muslim on Us
Hands On have been in Sumatra, Indonesia for a month and it seems like the presence of 40+ foreigners has finally gotten to this small community. I guess it’s difficult to lay low with so many people zipping around town on pickups full of tools and walking to and from town to get online and eat yummy things. We’ve been noticed in a big way and it’s not all a good thing, unfortunately.
We’ve had a few baffling semi-harassing encounters with the ‘Muslim Police’ who, we’re told, are completely separate from the regular police and are more like thugs than like law-enforcement. I don’t know the full story behind them but they’ve visited our house a few times with questions about how many Americans are in the place, accusations that we have been handing out Christian materials (ridiculous considering most people on the project are not religious at all), requests for money towards their vague aid projects and asking for the phone number of one volunteer saying that it is in ‘our culture’ to give out phone numbers willy nilly. They’re also paranoid that a bunch of donated goods we will be distributing contain covert Christian documents and short skirts. Actually, some of the clothes are unsuitable and have Jesus slogans but we’re ditching them before they hit the streets.
In short, these guys seem like a band of roving dickheads and the community seems to agree. The regular police assure us they have no problems with Hands On and seem to be distrustful of the ‘Muslim Police’. We’ve also been asked to not drink beer on town, even though it’s openly sold there. I think this has more to do with women drinking beer than the guys, but we’ve all been banned regardless. It’s not a huge deal and I understand that locals probably feel uneasy about us womenfolk setting a bad example, but it’s still annoying.
Now the latest in the recent wave of religion-related requests, the community has banded together after a month to ask that we not have men and women sleeping under the same roof. Given that we only have one house, this would have seemed to be a bit of a problem. The comprimise has been to chuck all the guys outside to sleep under a big army tent in bunkbeds. Not ideal (although it’s actually a pretty good deal for the girls!) but it’s just another thing that needs to be done to appease the local community.
All of this has been really interesting for me. I would have thought Bangladesh was a bit more religiously hard core but, as far as I know, there were no issues there like we’ve had here. One rural community thought were were there to give them injections to become Christians but, besides that, it seemed like the community was on board with what we were there to do and if there was any suspicion, I didn’t hear about it.
But it’s been an amazing experience thus far despite the hiccups and I’m always curious to see what the next day will hold. Internet has been set up thanks to the installation of our very own tower to pick up a signal. So I should be in touch a bit more and will attempt to do a little bit of work while I’m here.
If you want an idea of what we’ve been up to so far check out this Day in the Life of a Volunteer video. So far so good!
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I’m one of the first to say that Muslims have every right to live their culture, practice their religion and even evangelize in my country if they feel like it. And they do demand this right, loud and clear. Being tolerant about other cultures and religions in muslim contries is another story, sadly.
Islam is even stupider than the other religions. It ruins every place it takes hold. I avoid those countries. At least with Catholicism or whatever it is they have in Latin America they’re pretty much live and let live.
Damn be careful. Religion is so dumb sometimes
Given it is the worlds most populous Muslim country I’m not surprised. I didn’t run into any religious problems during my time in Indonesia, I found them all very friendly. Still IMO those ‘police’ who go around enforcing their mental Sharia law, nuts!
I would say it is a small percentage of Indonesians that act this way. Unfortunately, these are the most vocal people. I was in Sumatra when there was the conflict between Palestine and Israel and there were lots of protests. I was a little scared after watching some demonstrations on tv, but actually no one bother me much.
When I went to Padang with my girl friend the hotel wouldn’t let us stay, even if we took separate rooms. Eventually we found a place that let us stay together. Medan seems a little more open, but Aceh is the strictest place in Indonesia and is governed under Sharia law.
Looking forward to hearing more about your work there.
@estudiante They’re all equally stupid to me.
It’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out. Apparently our boss has told them he will comply with the sleeping in separate places thing but that’ll be the last request. They said ok but I have a feeling more requests will keep popping up.
Exactly who was it who made this ‘request’ anyway?
I think it’s all about power. They won’t be satisfied. Next it’ll be that the guys are using the bathrooms in the house, or eating meals under the same roof. Or sharing sledgehammers & wheelbarrows with unmarried female volunteers.
Still, I think you’re gonna look nice in a shawl and headscarf.
Indo is the largest muslim country in the world. it should really be no surprise they went “all muslim on you”
just dont go to saluwasi….they are extreme there
I think it is amazing what you are doing. This world could use more people like yourself willing to give back. Keep up the good work and love the blog.
I think Indonesia was Muslim before you arrived. As someone else pointed out, it’s the most populous Muslim country in the world.
Yap, they are pretty sensitive about foreigners & Christianity. So stay safe : ))
I guess as Neil said, you are in a predominantly Muslim country and visitors have to go along with that.
Reminds me of what an expat friend who use to work in Bali said - whatever you do remember that you are still in Indonesia.
Jeeze this has changed my hazy memories of Sumartra are mainly of Lake Toba was it taking at least a week extra for me to get off the island because the local whiskey was a) cheap and b) bad so c) I kept missing the morning boat LOL. Padang I remember as dull but harmless - but Palembang was realy quite theratening in a non-obvious way - not religious particularly just a really uncomfortable feeling being a solo blonde female on the streets.
I am not too surprised by the reaction of the Muslim people. They are very strict about their religion. I remember when I visited a Muslim country we had to be careful about things like openly consuming liquor and exposing bare skin. In all fairness though, you guys probably shouldn’t have brought Jesus tshirts. That is asking for trouble. It’s too bad people can’t help each other without some kind of religious motivations.
you’ll be surprised how many americans/europeans are involved in the religious conversion business under the pretext of “charity”.. just visit india to see that in full action.
Oh Man! This is a very delicate matter to talk about but anyways let just respect each other’s religion - either Muslims, Christians, Protestants etc. Be safe!
Very interesting post! Do these thugs walking around calling themselves the Muslim Police (or do they even call themselves this) openly arm themselves?
Sometimes we don’t understand people real problems. Facing certain trouble that can cause death gives you the perspective that allows you to say: your problems are not real. I think that many of us (citizens of so called “western world” face those unreal problems everyday. Less money? It is good to have money at all. Someone have a better job? It is good to have a job at all. You didn’t manage to get your favorite cola taste? It is good to have anything to drink at all.
It was very bad, most worst thing is harassing encounters , i think your required to tell consult high commision or high authority regarding same harassment. such step may helpful to resolve sitution.