There has long been talk about proposed legislation that would ban all alcohol production and sales in Indonesia. Although conservative and religious politicians often mention their support of the bill to score cheap political points (and Western media plays up its possibility for alarming headlines), it has never been close to passing. However, other aspects of alcohol prohibition, such as the banning of beer sales at minimarkets throughout the country, have been passed in recent years.
Those who argue against alcohol prohibition in Indonesia often point to the numerous deaths caused every year due to Indonesians drinking tainted, homemade liquor (known locally as oplosan). Now, the country’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has stated that it is against the full prohibition of alcohol in Indonesia after a study they commissioned found that a large number of young people in Jakarta drink oplosan regularly and can obtain it easily.
The survey, done by NU’s Institute for Human Resource Research and Development (Lakpesdam) showed that about 65 percent of teenagers in Jakarta have drunk oplosan. The vast majority of those respondents (71.5%) said they obtained the illegal drink from warung jamu (stalls selling herbal drinks), with smaller percentages saying they had gotten them through grocery stores or friends.
NU said the survey was done over 6 months and involved 327 respondents ages 12-21. The study also indicated that there has been a rise in alcoholism amongst teenagers after the minimarket beer ban went into effects and youths were driven to purchase liquor from black market sources.
The survey also showed teens were ignorant about the possible dangers of oplosan and did not know about incidents such as the death of 13 youths in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, who all succumbed to alcohol poisoning after drinking a concoction containing bootleg liquor in 2013.
In response to their findings, NU has officially come out in opposition of a total alcohol ban in favor of regulated controls.
“As a Muslim, of course, alcohol is still haram (forbidden). But this is not about halal or haram, this is about saving our younger generation, this is about making an effective policy,” Abdul Wahid Hasyim, the head of NU Lakpesdam Jakarta, told the Straits Times last week.
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