Jump to content
IGNORED

Indonesia: women motorcycle regulations


Paul Mihalka

Recommended Posts

Paul Mihalka

Indonesia city to ban women 'straddling motorbikes'

2 January 2013. The city mayor says women straddling motorbikes are not in line with Islamic values

 

A city in the Indonesian province of Aceh which follows Sharia has ordered female passengers not to straddle motorbikes behind male drivers.

Suaidi Yahya, mayor of Lhokseumawe, says it aims to save people's "morals and behaviours".

Leaflets have been sent out to government offices and residents to inform them about the regulation.

Aceh is the only Indonesian province that follows Sharia.

Under the new regulation, the mayor says that women passengers are only allowed to sit "side-saddle" because straddling the bike seat violates Islamic values.

"When you see a woman straddle, she looks like a man. But if she sits side-saddle, she looks like a woman," Suaidi said.

He added that passengers who sat side-saddle rarely fell off. The local government will be evaluating the regulation in a month, after which it could turn into a by-law, he added.

When asked if women who did not follow the rule would be punished, Suaidi said: "Once it has become a by-law, automatically there will be sanctions."

The regulation has been met with criticism from well-known Muslim activists like Ulil Abshar Abdalla, who is based in the capital, Jakarta.

"How to ride a motorbike is not regulated in Sharia. There is no mention of it in the Koran or Hadiths," he said on his Twitter account, referring to the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.

"In a democratic country, what is claimed to be Sharia must be assessed by the public's common sense if the government aims to turn the regulation into law."

Link to comment

There's a simple workaround: women will need to start driving motorbikes so they aren't passengers. Men can sit behind since it apparently makes you look like a man.

Link to comment

How would they enforce that on a person who is NOT Muslim...I have a hard time believing that every single person who lives in that city is Muslim....and what about visitors and travelers riding through?

Link to comment
How would they enforce that on a person who is NOT Muslim...I have a hard time believing that every single person who lives in that city is Muslim....and what about visitors and travelers riding through?

 

Same way they enforce "morals" on visiting Indonesian punks:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16176410

 

These aren't religious edicts for believers. They're civil laws that apply to all in the province.

Link to comment
Paul Mihalka
There's a simple workaround: women will need to start driving motorbikes so they aren't passengers. Men can sit behind since it apparently makes you look like a man.

Real life old story I told times ago:

Caracas, Venezuela, 195x. City major or police chief ordered that women can't ride as a passenger on a motorcycle - it was "improper". The local Vespa dealership was owned by a husband/wife couple, who usually rode each their own bike. One day they rode on one bike, husband driving. Stopped by police. Woman passenger not allowed. She showed her license, they swapped places, and rode away.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...