Cops Question Playboy Covergirl: Jakarta, Indonesia

One of my brothers in Indonesia managed to get hold of a copy of Playboy Indonesia when it first appeared on the stands. He told me it was tamer than a bowl of soggy porridge with absolutely no female 'private parts' being splashed across the pages unlike its counterparts in other countries.

If this is the case then how come the police in Jakarta hauled in the model-cum-TV presenter Andara Early for questioning over her alleged "pornographic" poses on the front cover of and inside Playboy Indonesia's first edition in April. It seems to me the police have nothing better to do.

In Indonesia you can buy pornography openly on the streets and some of the local rags have pictures of ladies in skimpier poses and flashing a bit of breast. So what is the big deal about a magazine that has conformed to government standards and produced a publication that is more like Readers Digest with a few bikini-clad females?.

The Jakarta police didn't stop at questioning the covergirl. Andara, along with the magazine's chief editor Erwin Arnada, and first edition centrefold model Kartika Gunawan, were named as suspects in an indecency case.
Why indecency?. The models concerned were amply covered. Apparently Playboy was reported to the police by the Indonesian Anti-Piracy and Pornography Society on April 7 for allegedly violating the Criminal Code.

There is absolutely nothing pornographic about Playboy Indonesia. Any woman can buy an overseas copy of the female tabloid Cosmopolitan on the streets and shops in Indonesia. They have some raunchy male photos in their pages. Heck, I have even seen it for sale in Gramedia outlets.

The whole issue is of name association. If the magazine was called 'Play Indonesia' then it would not have drawn the attention of the relevant authorities or subversive groups in Indonesia.