City told to curb moonshine, not liquor

City told to curb moonshine, not liquor

Tantri Yuliandini and Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration would do better to ban the production
and sale of illegally mixed alcoholic drinks, common among the
lower classes, rather than prohibiting supermarkets and
hypermarkets from selling licensed alcohol, an expert says.

"We often hear of people being poisoned, going blind or even
dying from drinking these kinds of mixtures of industrial
alcohol .... Why doesn't the administration ban these mixtures,
instead of banning licensed alcohol that few people have access
to in the first place," wine writer and connoisseur Yohan Handoyo
told The Jakarta Post last week.

He said the higher prices of alcohol sold in supermarkets and
hypermarkets, together with age restrictions for the purchase of
these beverages, was enough to deter irresponsible consumption.

Young people in Jakarta have long been familiar with homemade
alcoholic drinks such as mensen and anggur orang tua.

Observers have often warned this unlicensed alcohol poses a
danger because of the high percentage of alcohol and the often
dangerous chemicals included in the mixtures.

None of these unlicensed mixtures carry labels specifying the
contents.

"I can get mensen in several stores in my area. I don't really
care what's in it as long as I can get drunk. It is also very
cheap compared to licensed drinks," Udin, 18, a high school
student in Pasar Minggu, told the Post recently.

The Jakarta Industry and Trade Agency recently banned the sale
of beverages containing more than 5 percent alcohol, which
includes most wines and distilled spirits, at supermarkets and
hypermarkets.

In issuing the ban, the agency invoked a 1997 presidential
decree on the monitoring and control of alcoholic drinks, as well
as Decree No. 359/MPP/Kep/10/1997 from the now defunct industry
and trade ministry, on the monitoring and control of the
production, importation, distribution and sale of alcoholic
drinks.

Several supermarkets and hypermarkets, including Ranch Market
in Pondok Indah, Carrefour in Lebak Bulus and Sogo supermarket in
Plaza Senayan, all in South Jakarta, have removed all wine and
spirits from their shelves.

Some branches of Hero supermarket, however, such as the Kemang
branch in South Jakarta, as well as Kem Chicks supermarket, also
in Kemang, are still selling wines and spirits.

According to the ministerial decree, only duty free shops are
allowed to sell beverages containing more than 5 percent alcohol,
and only to members of the diplomatic corps, foreign experts
working at international institutions, those traveling abroad and
those who have just returned from abroad.

Kemang Duty Free will only sell to foreigners who can produce
a passport or limited stay permit (KITAS).

"We don't serve local residents at all, not even those holding
diplomatic passports, only those with foreign passports or a
KITAS," an employee at Kemang Duty Free said.

Though it has the largest Muslim population in the world,
Indonesia's alcohol tradition is quite sophisticated and goes
back thousands of years.

"It's not true that Indonesia's culture does not recognize
alcoholic drinks. We know of tuak, brem, arak and
saguer, all of which come from Indonesia's own culture," Yohan
said, pointing out that other countries with Islamic traditions
such as Turkey and Algeria also produce their own wines.

Tuak is a type of wine fermented mainly from rice, but also
from sugarcane, mangosteen, palm tree sap and apples, and can be
found all over Indonesia. Brem, popular in Bali, is made from
black glutinous rice, yeast and water, and has an alcohol content
of between 7 percent and 9 percent, depending on its age.

Arak is distilled tuak or brem with an alcohol content
of between 20 percent and 50 percent, depending on the quality,
and is an important ingredient in temple offerings in Bali.
Saguer, popular in North Sulawesi, is fermented from palm tree
sap.

According to Yohan, the government should also take note of
the different types of consumers of alcoholic beverages, and not
treat all alcohol the same.

"Wine, for example, is mostly drunk by expatriates, and only
in the last two or three years have Indonesians begun to acquire
a taste for it," he said.

The growing popularity of wine in the country is evident from
the number of restaurants and lounges now dedicated to serving
the beverage. These include wine shops such as Vin+ in Kemang and
Indovino in South Jakarta, and clubs such as the Wines and
Spirits Circle and the newly established Klub Wine.

Wine enthusiasts, Yohan said, are not only interested in the
taste of the wine itself, but also in the process of making wine,
its culture and history.

"When you participate in a wine tasting, you will find that
people there talk not just about the wine, but also the culinary
culture linked to the wine," he said, adding that serious
enthusiasts rarely purchased wine off the shelf.