A sober decision

A sober decision

The government's promise to review its decree on the sale and
distribution of alcoholic beverages should calm the tension among
Moslem organizations. At least temporarily.

These past few weeks have seen various protests in Jakarta and
other cities against the policy. The protests continued, in spite
of official assurances that the ruling was issued to control the
sale of alcohol, and should not be seen as condoning alcohol
consumption. The government has acted wisely by announcing its
promise to review the decree. This was what came out of the
extraordinary meeting convened Wednesday by Coordinating Minister
for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman.

Ignoring the protests would only have aggravated the
situation, as the government learned a few years ago when it
handled the controversial ruling on the state-sponsored lottery,
SDSB. The lottery, considered a form of gambling, was eventually
scrapped after a long tug-of-war with Moslem organizations.

There are similarities between the lottery and alcoholic
beverages. While both have alluring potentials to boost state
coffers, Islam considers them haram (forbidden), and therefore,
any revenue that comes from them is considered sin money. Both
also have potential negative impacts on society, particularly in
the form of addiction.

It would be unwise, however, for Indonesia to impose a
sweeping ban on alcoholic beverages in the manner it did away
with the lottery, and this is probably where similarities between
the two end.

The government should take into consideration the fact that
there is a sizable number of non-Moslem people in this country,
as well as a growing presence of expatriates, for whom drinking
is not only permitted. For some, it is also a social custom. An
outright ban could also dent Indonesia's tourism at a time when
the country is building more and more hotels and other facilities
to cash in on the tourism boom.

Any review of the policy must take these factors into
consideration. It is encouraging to note the statement by
Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. that in reviewing the
decree, the government will approach the issue differently. If
presently, the government tries to regulate the sale and
distribution of alcoholic beverages, the new approach will be to
restrict the sale of otherwise banned products. This may sound
like semantics, but it could go a long way towards appeasing
Moslems, without depriving non-Moslems of their pastime.

Indonesia could also learn a thing or two from neighboring
Malaysia, where the sale of alcoholic beverages to Malaysian
Moslems is forbidden, and any shop or restaurant caught selling
or serving them is liable to criminal prosecution. The onus is as
much, if not more, on those who sell as well as on those who buy.
This should not be difficult to implement in Indonesia, where
people are required to carry ID cards, which also state their
religion, at all times.

But whatever policy comes out of this review, there is the
question of enforcement. Unfortunately, this country is
notoriously lacking or weak in law enforcement. A new policy on
the sale of alcoholic beverages may be convincingly and even
impossibly strict, but it doesn't mean a thing as long as
enforcement is feeble or even nonexistent.

This, in fact, has been the chief concern among Moslem leaders
about the present regulation: the lack or absence of enforcement,
although the existing rules already stipulate an age limit and
restrict sales. The increasing incidence of drunkenness,
particularly among young people, is very much behind the recent
protests.

Therefore, in the final analysis, it is not the policy that
counts most, but its enforcement. On this score, the government
will have to be more convincing than it has been in the past.