In 2005 I had a twoday business trip to Banda Aceh. After the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami the previous year, I had wondered how the city would be.The flight was packed. Business class was full of westerners on laptops. From above, as we were coming in to land, Aceh looked fertile and beautiful. You could see there were some changes along the coastline, but the mountains were stunning as ever, the rice fields green, the beaches clean and the sea a gorgeous deep blue. If I only I had time to go diving around Weh Island.
Not far from the airport was the mass grave of tens of thousands of victims of the tsunami it reminded me of the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. To the right was a banner with the words "Welcome humanity heroes, thank's for your help" (this is how it was written). There were smart new vehicles donated by the UN or foreign NGOs including ambulances, fire engines, armoured personnel carriers, pickups, trucks, and four wheel drives. There were also a lot of foreign people on the roads; I am not sure what they were all doing there, dressed like Indiana Jones, although some were in shorts and singlets like tourists. It was not just bules1 I did see one group of Indians as well.
What I found really odd was a bunch of Japanese girls in miniskirts, stockings and leather jackets out in the midday sun. What could they possibly be doing here dressed like that?, I managed to find time to visit Baiturrahman Mosque, Banda Aceh's best known landmark. It reminded me of watching the news as the camera picked out people taking refuge on the roof, standing up to watch the flood as it swept through the city around them. It's a big, tall mosque but showed hardly any sign of damage, except for one wall of a minaret that was being renovated.
Not far from the mosque there was a sign for the Kuala Trip a Hotel, which used to be the best hotel in Aceh, but was destroyed by the tsunami. The threestar Sulthan Hotel has taken over its top spot; it has been here since the Dutch colonial period and the strength of its construction saved it from the flood. Because it was the only hotel of that standard in town it was always fully booked by foreigners working for NGOs, and its restaurant was permanently reserved for their dinners. Before the tsunami it cost between IDR150,000 to IDR300,000 a night but was now double that, even though some of the rooms were still being renovated. The view from a deluxe second floor suite was of a muddy field, strewn with pieces of wood carried there in the floods.
What I found interesting was the Islamic law enforced now across Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province. Leaving the airport you are welcomed by a billboard informing visitors "You are entering an area governed by Islamic Law" with a picture of a person in Muslim clothing. In the city there were a number of banners with "A woman in tight clothes is the same as the devil"; the "devil" part of the message used a horror movie style typeface with blood dripping from the letters. Another banner declared, "Citizens are required to wear Islamic dress that covers their aurat and is neither tight, nor thin". Religious police in special uniforms could be seen patrolling the streets, arresting any women not wearing Islamic headdress or unmarried men and women together in a public place. What about a nonMuslim like me?.
I was told it was not a problem but I really preferred not to be arrested by the police. So, I towed the line and wore long sleeves and a head scarf. My biggest problem was, dressed like this, how was I going to smoke? If I wanted to go swimming at the beach (in the unlikely event I made it out to Weh Island to go diving), what was I going to wear?.
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