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Lately the over-the-top Lady Gaga was trending topic. Her planned performance was thwarted by FPI and other radicals. The concerts on Indonesian soil were temporarily cancelled. Till yesterday the question was whether she, even after originally having dropped her gigs in the archipelago because of the Police’s stiff opposition,would perform in Jakarta after all ???? Would promoter “Big Daddy” talk her management into complying with a few of Jakarta Police’s petty face-saving censor-demands in time????
Well, today the Lady said no. The concert of June the 3rd is off the agenda. No compromise on her part to appease the Islamic Defense Front and save the Police’s face.
A déja vu. We’ve seen this developments happen many times before. With willing Police cooperation the demands of a loud and violent minority of radical believers prevailed over the majority’s opinion once more .
Not quite though. It’s slightly, but significantly different this time.
The involuntary abortion of Lady Gaga’s performance provoked public indignation. And not just from the artist’s fans.
A genuine discussion in the media has started. Social media included. Many people participate. Fellow blogger Harry Nizam among them. On “Multibrand, an Indonesian blog“ he published a strong post titled “Lady Gaga concert cancelled“. In it he defended the right of people who objected to the show to demonstrate. But added an eloquent and tough criticism on the Police’s decision to give in to thugs-of-the-street. He asked for the concert to be on.
And I read more shining examples on the route I daily run along blogs. I loved “The Importance of Lady Gaga concert” on “Random Thoughts on Passing Scenes“. What else is there to do but second Triesti’s view that the quintessence of the issue is liberty and one’s definition of freedom. The same holds for “Indonesia’s gone Gaga: Lessons in Democracy” on “Portrait Indonesia“. Elizabeth Pisani puts it to us that all the fuzz is proof of the radicals’ weakness. That in this case inclusiveness had it.
The wish may be the farther of the thought but I share her optimism; this time reason beats narrow mindedness. The vigilantes got the concert aborted, but lost the public debate and public opinion. What sticks is that the emancipated moderates stood up for their rights. Their voices were louder, their views, the stands they made and their opinions more articulated. It’s important to keep that debate going and step it up.
Meanwhile Police and government lost another part of their credibility by their timid response to FPI threats.
Update: In “Did the Jakarta Globe’s editorial go gaga over Lady Gaga” on Unspunblog some of the most peculiar assumptions, reasoning and logic of the paper on the Lady Gaga issue, have been dissected and are taken out to the garbage…:)
It’s a shame that Gaga wont have her concert in Jakarta, but I can understand she has to think of her crew and fans safety with hundreds of FPI members holding her tickets. If you think about it, FPI buying the concert ticket in order to protect other concert goers from the damage that watching Gaga might do, is a huge joke. Are they going to ‘join them if you cant beat them’?
@ triesti: “Join them?”. In their usual weird outfits they actually appear to be little monsters indeed
. The only difference being they got no talent but the one for hatred 
.
well police and government are fpi’s best friends…
Thank you for quoting my blog, Colson.
The cancellation by Lady Gaga shows once again that the Police is very weak when dealing with violent groups like the FPI.
I wished that she had not cancelled it, that way the Police would have to refuse permit and show how weak they are.
I have a funny feeling that the FPI and other violent groups are backed by elements in the Military for unknown agenda.
@ calvin: I doubt whether the government is the vigilante’s best friend. But at least the “religious faction” and parts of the Police are. The may have interest in being lenient to and even protecting the FPI and their allies. The rest of them seems to just lack the balls necessary to do their job properly.
@ Harry: Unimportant as a concert by some weird American lady may be, it revealed a few worrying weaknesses in what should be democratic institutions (:()and a sound sense of reason in emancipated parts of Indonesian society (:)). What amazes me most is that while some government ministers said “Yes” ( minister of Tourism), the Police could say “No”. I wonder is the Police a state-in-the-State? Can they act against the wishes/orders of the government?
was talking about this whole hoopla the other day.. there is a possibility that spring to mind.. we all know that you just need to pay FPI some money and they are going to be quiet for about anything.. why didnt they? there’s a possibility that it’s actually about business competition using FPI as their pawn. someone pays FPi to make racket. someone supplied FPI with their 150 tickets to the concert. just a thought.
@ triesti: We shouldn’t rule out these possibilities. After all if they act with gangster violence, they probably also use other gangster methods such as blackmail, “protection money” and operating as hitmen. Perhaps even for political or entrepreneurial principals who have reasons to keep in the shade.
However it’s remarkable their targets are only what’s considered to be “dissident”,”modern”, “western” and “liberal” as defined by hard core Islamists. Not just in Indonesia by the way. So bye and bye I get convinced the roots of the problem are religious mainly. Problematic especially in a country which provides a moderate, yet more or less congenial Muslim environment to these radicals. Because, whatever other dark powers play a role, I’m afraid the roots of the problem are in an orthodox Arab variant of the religion.
I dont buy that the root is religious. If it was, they would’ve cracked down those sexy dangdut events and all those high class ‘brothels/clubs’ up and down the country. the root is money. they just sell their religion for more money in a place where being hypocrite is applauded
@ triesti: Because I’ve to admit you are on the spot, watching developments closer than I do and because you probably are more intelligent, I consider to surrender to your arguments:). So money still is the root of all evil.
However, well, eh….Really only money? Of all evil?
After a visit home to multicultural New York, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I will be taking my child out of Indonesia sooner rather than later. It will be Indonesia’s loss and the United States’ gain, as those who seek a moderate, modern, tolerant, liberal society leave to create it and live it in another country.
@ Mauricio: No doubt the cultural and financial capital of the world can be an exciting place to grow up for your child. As a matter of fact I am happy to have raised my own children in what used to be ( till ten, fifteen years ago)one of the most ( if not THE most) “moderate, modern, tolerant, liberal” countries of the world.
Today I think my grandson – who will probably grow up in Jakarta- is lucky he will live through a fascinating epoch of exciting changes and developments of a country rapidly becoming a major player and world power. If only people manage to get rid of the yoke of too much religion and conservatism.
It must be great to participate in that society. I’m optimistic.
“too much religion and conservatism”
Did you know that the most Islamic countries–that is, those that best enshrine Islam’s high values and lofty ideals in their laws, social customs and government practice–are nowadays in the West?
@ Mauricio: I observe three developments in the medium sized Muslim minorities ( less than 10%) of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The overwhelming majority sticks to the religion in the same conservative way members of other religions do in their diaspora. A small intellectual minority liberalizes and a crazy fringe radicalises. So in my perception it’s weird so many people over here got nervous by them and joined the xenophobic wave.
I think it is a safe bet that in the long run Islam in NW Europe will go the same way as Christianity did.