I watched some TV when I was in Indonesia. The US elections, several crappy horror movies, a couple of equally crappy soap series (only serving as a reminder why I don't watch them generally), talk shows, a few American B grade movies. There was a huge discussion on a new law banning pornography; when is something considered sexy, and when is something considered porn. I found it interesting, since being raised in a totally different culture I am used to seeing boobs, bums and naked bodies in ads. Shampoos, shower gels, body lotions... Showing skin helps sales. I know those ads in no way promote porn. Anyway, this is one of the discussions that has divided the Indonesians - and it was ongoing when I left. (The interesting thing is that a couple of TV ads are being aired promoting Indonesia as one country.)
Something that unites the Indonesians was the fact that the verdict on the Bali bombers was finally out. They were to be executed. Shortly after that was out a warning for travelers was issued not to visit Bali until further notice, since they fear possible bombings from militant Muslims. None of the people around me all condoned the bombings and were glad the three were going to be executed. (In case you missed it: two explosions on Bali's Kuta strip on October, 12, 2002 killed 202 people including 4 Dutch, 88 Australians and 38 Indonesian citizens, and dealt a severe blow to the island's tourist industry.) Frankly, I don't know what to think of the sentence. Don't get me wrong: they killed innocent people so they should be punished. I just don't know if punishment by death is the right thing. I realize that is just another topic for a heated discussion - and I'm not gonna go there...
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