You may remember when the Jakarta Tourism Chief recently said that there was no prostitution in Hotel Alexis, despite the fact that it is believed by many to be one of the city’s most expensive and luxurious brothels.
Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, however took a more believable stance on prostitution taking place in Alexis, which he described with his penchant for delivering golden, quotable lines like these:
“You think there’s no prostitution in hotels? There is. Where do celebrity prostitutes go? Hotels. Some even say that Alexis is heaven on earth,” Ahok said yesterday, as quoted by Vivanews.
“Some people say that heaven is found underneath their mother’s feet, but heaven on earth is found on the 7th floor of Hotel Alexis.”
Ahok then defended the Tourism and Social agencies for failing to prove the existence of prostitution in establishments like Hotel Alexis.
“[The officers] reported that they saw many seemingly well-meaning women. But they said there’s no way they’d knock on every hotel room door [to prove that they were prostitutes],” he said.
The Jakarta Provincial Government is currently going on a much-publicized battle against prostitution, specifically with their plans to shut down the infamous Kalijodo red-light district. Ahok previously said that prostitution is a social problem that could not be eliminated (it having already been around since the time of the Prophet) so it’s better for it to be contained in certain areas, like Hotel Alexis, where it could be regulated and monitored in line with the Indonesian concept of lokalisasi.
