Blind masseurs to mend image

Blind masseurs to mend image

BANDUNG (JP): At least 100 delegates from massage parlors
affiliated with the Indonesian Association for the Blind
(Pertuni) met here on Wednesday to restore their tarnished image,
which has been associated with prostitution.

Bambang Suyono, Pertuni's secretary-general, said many people
identified massage houses as camouflaged brothels, while
prostitution had been widely carried out under the guise of blind
masseurs' businesses.

Worse still, he admitted that some of the blind masseurs were
themselves involved in the sex business behind their core
activities.

He said the phenomenon was attributed to the lack of promotion
of the code of ethics and professional standards formulated in
the national conference of blind masseurs last November, which
rejected prostitution in the business.

The Indonesian Blind Masseurs Association (Pertapi), Bambang
said, "will take stern action against any breach of the code",
which includes revoking the membership and license of the
offender.

Last month Pertapi members registered a vote of no-confidence
against their then chairman Idwin Wiluya Siral for facilitating
prostitution.

Idwin was forced to step down and was dismissed after the
association's executive board and honorary council found him
guilty of inviting a young woman to his parlor, instead of blind
employees, to serve male patients.

Bambang indicated that massage licenses previously issued by
the now defunct ministry of social affairs were so lenient that
many outsiders abused them for indecent purposes.

With the new standards, licenses must come from the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare, based on Pertapi's recommendations.

The symposium of blind masseurs also discussed massage fees
and planned to raise the rates, currently between Rp 10,000 and
Rp 15,000 per patient, which were considered too low.

He said the hike in the price of basic commodities was behind
the plan to increase the service rates. "Lots of the blind rely
on this profession," added Bambang, without indicating his
monthly earnings. (25)