The Buddha Bar in Jakarta in December 2008
Indonesian hipsters looking for a place to chill in steamy Jakarta didn't have to look much further than the Buddha Bar. Last year, the posh establishment opened as the first Asian branch of an international chain with outlets everywhere from Paris and Cairo to Kiev and Sao Paulo. But on March 10, the Jakarta Legislative Council ordered the nightspot shuttered because its use of religious iconography could be considered offensive to Buddhists. In addition to its religiously inspired name, the restaurant's dining area is dominated by a giant Buddha sitting in the lotus position.
The decision is just the latest religious controversy to make headlines in Indonesia in recent months. About 90% of the sprawling archipelago is Muslim — the world's largest Islamic population — but significant Hindu, Christian and animist communities live in places like Bali, Sulawesi and Papua. Despite the country's constitutional commitment to freedom of faith, religious minorities have complained in recent years of a creeping Islamization that they believe has strained Indonesia's social fabric.
In January, the nation's top Islamic body issued a fatwa, or religious edict, banning Muslims from practicing yoga if it involved chanting Hindu mantras. Late last year, Indonesia's parliament passed an anti-pornography bill that could criminalize certain folk dancing or traditional women's outfits. The bill was supported by hard-line Islamic groups, who believed its passage could counter moral degeneracy among Indonesian Muslims. So far, the law hasn't been applied in a significant way, although contemporary artists and others are worried they could be targets of its harsh prison sentences, which include a maximum of 10 years' in jail for "any person who exhibits themselves or others in a performance...that contains nudity, sexual exploitation."
Now, adherents of other faiths are looking to make their mark in the public sphere, too. In early March, Buddhist students armed with nothing more menacing than joss sticks staged a protest against the Buddha Bar. They argued that a place called Muhammad Bar or Jesus Christ Bar would hardly meet with approval. The students demanded that the hotspot's name be changed, something the Jakarta Legislative Council has agreed must be a prerequisite for the Buddha Bar to reopen. At the same time, Indonesian Corruption Watch, a local NGO, has raised questions about whether the dining lounge, which is located in a Dutch colonial building that was restored with public funds, is contravening a cultural-conservation regulation that prohibits historic buildings from being used for private gain.
The Buddha Bar is part of a French franchise that made its mark with popular albums that mixed world-music elements with a lounge-y vibe. The international eateries serve up a pan-Asian menu and aesthetic that clearly uses the Buddha more as a cultural marker than as a religious icon. Restaurant souvenirs for sale include a Buddha snow globe — not the kind of thing a member of the faithful would be likely to purchase. Indeed, the Buddhist reverence toward compassion notwithstanding, a Middle Way might not be so easy to reach in the current climate in Jakarta.