Depending on what kind of person you are, there are one of two things that will pop into your head first when you hear the word Malioboro. Either you’ll think of Yogyakarta’s famous shopping street, Jalan Malioboro, which follows the line between the royal Yogyakarta Kraton and Mount Merapi, or you’ll think of Jakarta’s infamous Malioboro “spa”, which is considered by many to be one of the capital’s most popular strip clubs and bordellos.
Queen Hema of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) recently said that she was very unhappy that the name Malioboro was being used as a place for “adult entertainment” in Jakarta.
“I really do not agree with the Malioboro name being used as the name of a nightclub,” Queen Hemas told reporters in Jakarta today as quoted by Rimanews.
Apparently the queen was unaware of the existence of Jakarta’s Malioboro until recently when the topic of prostitution in red light areas like Kalijodo became a hot topic.
Queen Hemas went on to state that she would sue the owners of the Malioboro spa to try and get them to stop using the name.
“If the residents of Yogyakarta knew about this, they would also want to sue,” she said.
If the queen’s case depends on proving that prostitution is taking place inside Malioboro, she may have a difficult time, as the Jakarta Tourism Minister says there are no signs of sex work taking place at Hotel Alexis and other infamous venues such as Malioboro.
