Will Wenxia Yu crown her successor in Indonesia?
The protest against Miss World 2013 in Indonesia heats up with a religious affairs leader calling for its cancellation days before the international pageant kicks off on Sept. 8.
According to this story from Rappler, Minister Suryadharma said, “the Indonesian Ulema Council has expressed strong opposition to Miss World because it doesn’t fit with Islamic teachings that say Muslim women should cover immodest parts of their bodies.”
The official statement comes even after the Miss World organization agreed months ago to scrap the Bikini competition in deference to Islamic faith.
Just yesterday an Indonesian human rights commissioner lambasted the pageant because it “put women’s bodies on display.”
While local organizers have stood their ground saying the pageant will go on as scheduled, ABQ can’t help but ask: Will the protests get louder?
Will the contestants be safe in the middle of such opposition?
And could this be a repeat of Miss World 2002 which was forced to move to London from Nigeria because of Muslims rioting against the pageant?
That rioting was deadly enough to leave an official death count of 215.
Of course, the circumstances were different in Nigeria. Read here to find out more. But Indonesian radicals have, in the past, mustered enough outrage to force the cancellation of events like Lady Gaga’s concert in 2012. The singer is known to wear outlandish and revealing costumes, the kind offensive to Islamic beliefs.
The Philippine representative to Miss World 2013, Megan Young
AND, inasmuch as I hate to say this, lets not forget the Bali Bombings.
So, right now the biggest concern is the safety of people. If the protests reach dangerous levels, ABQ has a few suggestions:
1) Limit the entire pageant to Bali (which is primarily Hindu) and cancel all Jakarta events. There is a strong har-line presence in the area of the coronation venue which is located in the outskirts of Jakarta.
2) Move the pageant to London like in 2002.
3) OR move it to a nearby pageant-crazy nation like Thailand or… better yet, the Philippines!!!!!
We have seen the leadership of Miss World Philippines Director Cory Quirino and she has political will. MWP was able to organize this year’s pageant in the span of two to three weeks. In spite of the fans’ howl of protest against the lateness of this year’s MWP, complainers are now few with the pageant successfully attracting high-caliber beauties and crowning one of the strongest-ever queens to come out of the Philippines – Megan Young.
So, the Philippines, IMHO, would be the best fallback for Miss World in case things get too hairy in Indonesia.
What do you think?
