Indonesian city outlaws lengthy pashes

Friday, The 7th of April 2006. 4:38pm (AEST)

Unrelated people who kiss each other on the lips for longer than five minutes in public will be arrested in the Indonesian city of Tangerang, local media say.

The Government in Tangerang, near Jakarta, has defended the regulation as a practical guideline for its officers to follow up on tough and heavily-criticised anti-prostitution laws, passed last year.

"Please do not dramatise this," Tangerang public order spokesman Ahmad Lutfi said.

"We will not arrest people at will as we are not oppressors."

Mr Lutfi has declined to comment on whether officers will be armed with stopwatches, the Koran Tempo newspaper says.

It is unclear if the guideline refers to an uninterrupted five-minute kiss.

Kissing in public is generally frowned upon in Indonesia, especially in rural, predominantly Muslim areas, but giving a time limit for such behaviour is unheard of.

Around 85 per cent of Indonesia's 220 million people follow Islam, giving the sprawling archipelago the largest number of Muslims of any country.

Although most are moderates, there is a growing tendency toward showing Islamic identity and conservative attitudes.

That backdrop, along with the recent devolution of power to regional governments, has given several regions space to create tighter rules on morality.

- Reuters


ABC 7-4-6

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1611392.htm

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