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| Southeast Asia | |
| Indonesia 'Playboy' Shows More Skin And Fewer Ads | |
| 2006-06-08 | |
| Now that's what I'm talking about! Jakarta, 8 June (AKI/Jakarta Post) - The June issue of Playboy Indonesia, the second ever in the world's most populous Muslim country, is not only free of steamy nude pictorials, but also conspicuously lacking in advertisements. White space occupied the pages where the glossy advertisements that filled April's first edition should have been placed. "These blank pages are dedicated to our loyal clients who have been threatened against placing ads in this magazine," was the message from publisher PT Velvet Silver Media on the 'bare' ad pages. Although reticent advertisers may have pulled out due to the threats launched by Muslim hard-line groups, the publisher refused to be cowed by the Islamic extremists - it moved its office from Jakarta to the more hospitable location of Bali and prepared there the second issue of the magazine. The publisher's re-location to predominantly Hindu Bali provided the security it needed after a building housing its office in South Jakarta was vandalized in April. "We decided to move our office and all editorial staffers to Bali as security and serenity is our main priority," said the magazine's editor in chief, Erwin Arnada, Antara newswire reported on Thursday. He added that the move to Bali prevented the publication of a May edition. "We feel safe after we moved to Bali and we had to prepare the second edition while we were also busy moving out. That is why we are late," Arnada concluded. The June issue of the magazine, which hit Indonesian newsstands on Wednesday, offers bolder content than the first published last April. The June playmate is Bali-based French beauty Amar Doriane, whose seductive poses in see-through lingerie make her April predecessor Kartika Gunawan look like a naive schoolgirl. Local model Joanna Alexandra also flaunts an alluring gaze as skimpy outfits expose her midriff and thighs.
It also has other content likely to offend the members of the hard-line groups, with two articles discussing items prohibited for consumption in Islam - pork and alcohol. The chairman of the Bali section of the Alliance for Independent Journalists, Anton Muhajir, writes about the huge success of pork meatball soup in Bali, with Javanese vendors of beef meatball soup finding very few customers. The report on pork is followed by an article about the thriving business of selling locally brewed beer in Yogyakarta. The second issue of Playboy Indonesia also features a long interview with death-row convict Fabianus Tibo, a Christian who was sentenced to death for his role in the Poso sectarian conflict. Poso - the main port and transportation hub for the northeastern coast of Central Sulawesi - was heavily damaged in an ethnic/religious conflict between Muslims and Christians over several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the town is currently almost exclusively controlled by Muslim forces. Radical groups have urged the government to expedite the execution of Tibo. | |
| Posted by:Steve |