Devout Aceh is not shielded from problems with teens

Devout Aceh is not shielded from problems with teens

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): It was Wednesday, ladies night at the
disco here, and club hoppers gripped by Ecstasy's euphoric daze
were out in force. Young people contorted their arms like
electrified tree branches and swung their heads violently in the
smoky room.

A group of youths sat off in a dark corner reeking of the
mingled aromas of alcohol, marijuana and clove cigarettes. One
man started handing out pills to his friends, who were ordering
whisky colas and other spirits. They clung tightly onto new
friends acquired just hours or even minutes before.

A nightly sight in Jakarta and other major cities across the
country. But in Aceh, revered as the entry point of Islam to the
archipelago and championed as Serambi Mekah (the Terrace of
Mecca), it is a numbing anomaly, an ugly affront to the majority
of people who remain devout.

First-time visitors to Aceh may hold romantic notions of
people garbed in exotic traditional attire or staid Moslem
outfits. They would have been in for a shock at the disco, one of
three in the provincial capital. The fashion accent was on trendy
and tight, as young women were dressed in a uniform of figure-
hugging jeans and branded T-shirts. Still, no woman was daring
enough to don a miniskirt.

Aceh remains a province where tradition and custom still
reign, but some seamier fallout from modern life has made inroads
since the early 1990s. Discos, cafes, karaoke lounges and other
entertainment centers are now popular hang-outs for the affluent
young. Drug and alcohol use is on the increase.

Anna, a disco regular who chose to use a pseudonym, said
Ecstasy boosts self-confidence and energy levels. Users feel a
surge of energy, shaking their heads and limbs violently to
pounding house music.

"When they are "on", when the drug is taking effect, they are
ready to enter the world of fun and excitement," she said.

"People who drink a lot of mineral water are almost certainly
Ecstasy users, because they need lots of water to prevent
dehydration. Mineral water is naturally very expensive here,
costing you Rp 6,500 (US$2.65) for a small bottle compared to
soft drinks priced at only Rp 3,000 a glass."

With a Rp 5,000 cover charge plus the expense of soft drinks
and mineral water, disco frequenters are invariably from wealthy
families.

"Most of them are children of high-ranking government
officials, rich businessmen and other prominent figures in the
city," said Henry over the din of the music. "Those from low-
income families cannot afford this kind of entertainment."

The average per capita income of people in Aceh reached around
Rp 1.9 million in l996, an increase of 14.3 percent from just
over Rp 1.6 million the previous year, according to data from the
provincial government of Aceh.

Entertainment

There are other entertainment venues for those of humbler
means. These include Olele Beach, 15 kilometers east of the city,
and Lhoknga Beach, about 20 kilometers west of Banda Aceh.

Teenyboppers pack the sites from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. They arrive
on motorbikes, the popular conveyance of the city's middle-class
youth, and chat in an open-air cafeteria. They later dance the
night away at a beach party. Some steal intimate moments among
shady trees and bushes.

Nurjanah, a psychologist at Syiah Kuala University in Banda
Aceh, said that the city's youth are now more brazen in bucking
the traditions of their ancestors.

Nurjanah deals with juvenile delinquents and counsels on pre-
marital sexual relationships, drug abuse and teenage
prostitution.

"Juvenile delinquency is still a case-by-case issue here," she
said. "But like an iceberg, it may appear serene on the surface
but it is hazardous underneath."

She said many people in the province were still trapped in
delusions of past glory, a throwback to the Aceh Darussalam was
one of the biggest Islamic kingdoms in the world. "They cannot
accept that some young people have started to turn away from the
existing traditional and moral values."

The traditional face of Acehnese society has also been altered
by rapid economic development and widespread availability of
communication services.

Ahmad Humam, chairman of the Aceh branch office of the
Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association, said teens have been
influenced by increasing exposure to Western values through local
and international media, such as newspapers, lifestyle magazines,
radio and television.

For necessity in receiving broadcasts of Indonesian television
stations, nearly every household in distant Aceh has a satellite
dish. These allow people to easily access news and entertainment
programs from abroad, including CNN, MTV and Australia's ABC,
according to Humam, whose doctorate in sociology is from the
University of Kansas.

Changing family values have also contributed to a rise in
adolescent problems in the province, he added.

"Young people often experience the weakening of extended
family ties and face a diminished social support network. They
cannot be blamed for all their doings as they are still
physically and emotionally unstable," he said.

"Providing guidance has never been a simple task and vast
social change makes it even more difficult for parents to know
how to help their children and prepare them for the future," she
said.

The challenges accompanying adolescence should be taken
seriously.

"Youth problems are very serious," she said. "They deal with
the group of people who will handle the country in the future.
Parents, teachers, the government and other related parties must
work hand in hand to deal with our youth."

The task ahead is made even more difficult as each party seems
to be walking a different path. (raw)