On Debate on Jilboob and Jilbab

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/12/your-letters-debating-jilboob-versus-jilbab.html

A few months ago, some colleagues of mine kind-heartedly advised me to modify the way I wore my jilbab (Islamic headscarf). They said the change would accentuate my face and I would be more fashionable. It would still cover your hair, they argued. My brows knitted in between excitement and doubt.

The temptation to be stylish, modern and beautiful feels far too strong. Afterall, woman is a creature of beauty, isn't she? Yet, I banish the idea as it is not what I am. As always, the way I dress does not define me. I wear jilbab and clothes that suit me. I choose apparels which provide comfort and convenience for my daily activities, including backpacking. So, it is not reserved only for religious reason or just following the trend. It is more of my personal affair.

Then, for the last few days, ‘jilboobs’ has been trending in social media and on screens. A Facebook page titled “Jilboob Community” was launched which displayed many pictures of women with jilboobs uploaded. The page triggered heated discussions online and offline, either condemning or supporting. My friends newsfeed are flooded with streaming on the topic. The issue has drawn the ire of conservatives as well, resulted in the issuance of religious edict from the country's highest authority on Islam.

Jilboobs is used to explain the trend of combining Muslim women dress, jilbab with tight-fitting clothes. Consequently, such combination accentuate their shapes and curves. This trend has came into surface because most of the women who are wearing jilbab want to remain fashionable and pretty. Most just follow the example of their favourite artists or patrons. Even long before the jilboobs comes into a spotlight, this phenomenon can be found anywhere including in Aceh since 2000s.

In Muslim-majority but secular Indonesia, the government does not regulate clothing for Muslim women the same way Islamic countries do. We can find Muslim women either fully covered from head to toe, dressed in a revealing tank top and miniskirt, or somewhere in between. So, there is no definite dress code for women here.

However, most women still adhere to the social and religious norms in choosing their dress. The so called 'appropriateness and politeness’ requirements are still on top of the list. Women are still mostly judged by how they dress as in the adage "you are what you wear". Well, off course this saying does not ring true completely as there is another saying to ‘never judge a book by its cover.’

As cultural modernization and globalization keeps spreading their claws, most women in the big cities now have more liberty in exercising their choice of  selecting their apparels.  Always keeping up with the latest fashion and brand to look ‘awesome’ is the new god.

As with the internet, so many choices are laid bare. Most renowned designers and brands dictate the lifestyle. Most public patrons especially celebrities set examples on how to dress. Enforced by the power of media, this lifestyle as reflected in fashion set the trend in motion.

Such phenomenon also spreads among the muslim women. It is the vanity of women to always want to look good and beautiful. We, the jilbabers (muslim women who wear headscarf), as with any other women around the globe, want to look good and beautiful too. It is our natural urge we sometimes find it impossible to deny.

Because, even though the world is full of normal and pretty women, the world we see – the world of television, films, magazines and websites – is full of women who are top-of-the-scale beauties. If we're a woman, a huge proportion of our role models, including jilbabers, are beautiful. So if we’re normal looking, we feel ugly.

For this reason, women, many of whom wanted their faces to be more beautiful than they were, were looking at products and procedures that might help, including in choosing their fashion. They increasingly crave beauty – and for good reason. In a world that tells pretty women they are ordinary, and ordinary-looking women they are ugly, increasingly radical “solutions” come to seem normal, including jilboob.

For me personally, jilboob or jilbab is a matter of personal choice as with a prayer or fasting. It is our personal affair with God. When a Muslim does not perform five daily prayers and fasting, we have no power to impose a sanction for him/her as this ritual is a private affair with God. We can only advise him/her to perform his/her ritual with good words and judgement in the spirit of brotherhood. We can only warn him/her that we are the ambassador of our faith.

In this spirit of good faith, I should say that Muslims should not react so negatively to the jilboobs phenomenon. It is not a criminal act in need of punishment or heavier sanction. The fact that women, especially young teenagers, are now increasingly willing to wear a jilbab is a small step that should be appreciated. It is understandable that they still want to look trendy and modern. It is a hijrah (a migration or journey), a process to be better. Thus, they should have a commitment to gradually dress with the jilbab better.

The jilboob phenomenon should also be perceived as a constructive criticism on how muslim women should wear their jilbab. As the ambassador of our faith, it is our sacred duty to safeguard our behavior, words, and even the way we dress that represent our faith as the religion of peace and love.

As for me, jilboob does not really suit me. Once or twice or more I used to wear such style. Looking at the mirror, I blushed and felt walking naked in that fashion. Somehow, I always see a woman wearing jilbab covering the head up to chest, look more elegant and beautiful. There’s something regal in that dress code especially if the manners and behavior of its wearer also reflect the code. And I am still a continuous learner on how to dress and behave properly so I can be a good ambassador to my faith.

In the end, I drop the idea of modifying the way I wear my jilbab and back to my regular style. Jeans and loose skirt with jilbab suit me better.

The Parody at The Constitutional Court

Feeling blessed today for being confined to bed due to cold, I received most exciting entertainment of the year. A parody presented by the plaintiff's witnesses at the Constitutional Court (MK) was amusing to watch. This was the trial the Indonesians have been waiting for to find out who would be declared as the winner in the Presidential Election legally.

Oh yes, the allegedly massive, structured, and systematic fraud in the election as the basis of a legal challenge against the official presidential election result announced by the General Election Commission on July 22, by the losing Prabowo-Hatta pair is indeed publicly proven in a live show! The public can directly see the shaky and nervous witnesses offered hearsay evidence, inaccurate data, forgotten numbers and names! 

The claim that the losing pair won by 50.52 percent against the rival camp who secured 49.74 percent based on Prabowo pairing vote calculation was also geniously delivered by the presentation of less convincing and inaccurate sporadic data! Even, one witness said there was only one vote inaccuracy in one of the polling station under his watch. Another brilliant witness confessed willingly that during the opening of the ballot boxes under dispute, he did not even attend the whole process! Hilarious indeed!

Furthermore, the Prabowo-Hatta team did not manage to bring in “10 trucks of evidence” as they have previously claimed to support their accusations. The first round of 26 witnesses also failed to present convincing evidence to support the claim and many showed inconsistency in their stories. The MK judges had to warn them several times the oath they had taken to tell nothing but truth, annoyed by the constant inconsistency and irrelevant stories to the claim.  

I frown in disbelief! These are the qualified witnesses the plaintiff's boasted. Wow, in my personal naive mind, this is a contempt to this esteemed court! This is not a stage for clowns!

Nonetheless, I still kept my positive thinking. Perhaps, these preliminary witnesses were still flexing their muscles! They have yet to find their rhythm. They were saving the best for last. So, I patiently continued to watch the trial on my TV screen as an enthusiastic student of law would look like.

Then, another genius stood on the witnesses rows cleverly and proudly said that the mayoral top ranking officials in his region have been impartial by devising scheme to support the winning pair. Recounting his stories, he confidently said there’s been a structural fraud to support the Jokowi pair.

Well, I thought this would be the strong evidence I have waited for! My ears twitched in anticipation. My body tensed with excitement for the first real qualified solid proof. And my heart skipped a beat.

The anguishing wait turned into a tragic laugh! Another hearsay evidence was rolled on and on! The genius witness said this accusation was based on some articles in newspaper! As if it was not enough entertaining, he went so far as to show off his emotion at play. With a faltering voice, he was almost on the verge on tears!

Bravo! He is certainly having the complete package of an actor!

I had to smile emphatically when the Chief Judge warned him to stop bubbling and rambling lest the court would evict him for disrupting court order. I thought it was not his fault to have such blind loyalty for his idol. It was the stupid ignorance of the brilliant lawyers who presented the man at court!

Never before, I have so much great interest in the trial process of any case. But this year presidential race law suit drawn me like a magnet. It's not the winning pair that made me follow the trial up close but it is the banal stubbornness of the losing pair and their supporters! 

Not to mention that in the preliminary hearing Wednesday, I was shocked to hear the honorable Prabowo Subianto told the court’s nine judges that some of the alleged election violations were worse than in totalitarian countries like North Korea. My jaw dropped! Comparing the democracy process in Indonesia with the totalitarian Nort Korea is absurd and a mock for Indonesia.

His raw ambition is displayed nakedly for the public to see. His language is nothing but a rhetoric of a combatant digging in for a siege. It is not the words of one seeking an honourable way to concede defeat.

His adamant reluctance to accept losing is perhaps fueled by his altruism, a belief that he’s the rightful heir of his former father in law who had ruled this nation for 32 years. He is destined and born to rule as has been foretold.

Backed by some richest men in this country including the tycoon Aburizal Bakrie and most popular religious parties which have strong grassroots, he has hard time to surrender the throne. It’s rare chance he has never received during his two previous contests. It’s just an inch away from his grasp! To let it go easily would be stupid and a shame!

Thus, it is no big surprise to see many acrobatic movements and schemes have been brought to the public sphere. The most recent is the statement made by Nurcahaya Tandang, the chairwoman of Srikandi Gerindra, saying that Prabowo is the reincarnation of God!!! That the rival pair is communist! So, it is a 'jihad' to ensure Prabowo-Hatta ticket for President and vice president. A claim she later apologized as a slip of the tongue! But the damage has been done.

Then, mobs of supporters have sieged the KPU’s gate to ‘safeguard’ the trial process be fair and impartial. They claimed to stage a peaceful rally but they chanted to take the KPU chairperson into their street justice. The Prabowo pair team also, ignorance of the public outcries for the country to move on, planned to canvass another tactic for a parliamentary committee to examine the election. If successful the Presidential inauguration scheduled for 20 October could be stalled, pushing the nation into politically hazardous territory.

I hope this is not happening! With the transparency of the judicial process so far and the increasing disappointment of the people with the Prabowo pair appalling movements, surely the lawmakers at the House will restrain themselves to agitate the public and plunge the nation into a deeper rift.

Having seen all these infuriating drama, I just want an end to all these foolish game. Like most citizens in this country, we want to move on! We want peace and unity after such a divide in the last presidential election. We have seen enough fools! We are sick seeing these wolves on stage fighting over the crown out of their reach!

So, please please please after MK gives its final binding verdict, all parties accept the decision! The result will be a victory of the people with regard to the development of democracy in the country, and in view of that, let’s hope that all sides will accept the result.  Let's support any President enforced by the decision and work together for the better future of Indonesia.