Indonesia’s moral authorities often denounce the destructive effects of western liberalism on traditional Indonesian culture, but often the biggest critics of the archipelago’s time-honored traditions and culture come from a very different, very conservative perspective.
Take, for example, this tweet from Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hayu, fourth daughter of Yogyakarta’s Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and a princess at the royal Keraton who also happens to be a game developer, IT project manager and self-described geek. In the tweet, she shares a photo of one of the Keraton’s other noble ladies.
https://twitter.com/GKRHayu/status/858599794930888704
“The Javanese version of Wonder Woman, the State Secretariat of the Palace of Yogyakarta, lady boss Penghageng Tandha Yekti”
The photo received plenty of likes but also one odious comment from a troll (@decolsin, who has since made his account private, though we confirmed the tweet was real).
He wrote, “Cover up your aurat (an Islamic term to describe the parts of the body a person should cover up for the sake of modesty)! Already old and still no shame.”
To which Princess Hayu replied, “Why? Does it make you aroused?”
Yep, we bet made his account private real fast after that royal riposte.
Now you may think that was just an isolated instance of Twitter trolling, but there have definitely been other conservative attacks on traditional Indonesian dress as somehow being inappropriate, such as last year when a TV station blurred Puteri Indonesia beauty pageant contestants who were wearing traditional Indonesian kebaya.
https://twitter.com/ferdiriva/status/701338357146628099
As we did then, we’ll ask again: Whose culture are these conservatives trying to protect? Because it’s obviously not Indonesian culture.
