Thursday, October 15, 2009

MIYABI'S VISIT CANCELED FOLLOWING CONTROVERSY By Fardah

Jakarta, Oct. 15, 2009 (ANTARA) - Maxima Pictures as the sponsor of Maria Ozawa or better known as Miyabi, has finally bowed to public protests and decided not to let the Japanese adult film star come to Indonesia.

The decision was made following a meeting between the producer and director of the film to be titled "Menculik Miyabi" or "Kidnapping Miyabi" with Interim Culture and Tourism Minister Mohammad Nuh at the minister`s office on Tuesday (Oct. 13). In the meeting, Minister Nuh gave a directive to cancel the planned visit of the Japanese porn film star to Indonesia.


Mohammad Nuh, who is concurrently the communication and information minister, said in a press release made available to Antara`s East Java bureau office that he had asked Odi Mulya Hidayat from Maxima Pictures as the sponsor of Miyabi`s planned visit to heed the directive to cancel Miyabi`s planned visit which had triggered a public controversy in the country.


At the meeting, Maxima Pictures had agreed to do as directed by the minister in order to avoid a growing controversy in the community, so that it will not increase the problem, the release said.


Hidayat said, as quoted in the release, that his side had to cancel Miyabi`s presence and postpone the process of Miyabi film "Kidnapping Miyabi" due to the strong protests against the movie.


Nuh appreciated the Maxima Picture`s preparedness to cancel Miyabi`s visit , because this nation did not want to be busy with issues that really can be solved in a good way.


Miyabi, who is actually hardly known by the Indonesian public before, was born in Hokkaido, Japan on January 8, 1986. She has blood mix of Japanese mother and French-Canadian father. This pretty girl is a model and actress playing in a number of adult videos.


She was earlier scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday (Oct. 14) and would stay for a week for a shooting of "Kidnapping Miyabi" to be produced by Maxima Pictures.


It was the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) which first staged a protest in front of the production house`s office in Jakarta last Oct. 9, 2009, against the planned presence of Miyabi in Indonesia. And later, similar protests were held especially by Muslim organizations in several regions.


On October 10, around 300 Muslims students under the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) organization, in Kudus, Central Java province, staged a demonstration to reject Miyabi`s planned visit to Indonesia by torching a few pieces of women`s underwear.


"Reject Miyabi, Save the Younger Generation from Pornography," Syakuri, one of the coordinators of the rally, shouted.


Another a protest rally was staged in Kudus on October 12, by Muslim university student of STAIN. In the rally, some protesters burned women`s underwear.


"By inviting Miyabi to play in a film in Indonesia, it means help promote pornography in this country," Anas Marzuki, a protester, said.


Miyabi is a symbol of pornography and "Kidnapping Miyabi" might become a virus which would infect the younger generation and make them familiar with porn films, he said.


In Gorontalo, northern Sulawesi, a number of residents also expressed their objection to the planned visit of Miyabi. Kusno (45) and Wati Ibrahim, for instance, complained about TV news on Miyabi as the electronic media also showed briefly parts of her erotic scenes.


"Although Miyabi would not come to Gorontalo, she could have a bad influence through her appearance on domestic TV news showing parts of her erotic scenes," Kusno said.


Chairman of the Gorontalo chapter of NU Maryam Pago has expressed her opposition to the planned visit of Miyabi.


"Miyabi`s visit will just trigger an uproar in the public and could harm the Indonesian children`s mentality because she is known as a porn film star," Maryam said.


NU Executive Board Chairman Hasyim Muzadi in Jambi (Sumatra) recently openly rejected the planned visit of Miyabi as he described it as no benefit for the nation.


Chairperson of the Jambi branch office of NU Abdul Kadir Husein also shared Muzadi`s view.


However, there was a group of some young people called "Fans Club" in Pekalongan, Central Java, which demonstrated support for Miyabi`s visit to Indonesia. They considered the banning of Miyabi to Indonesia was a human rights violation and a discriminative act.


Following the controversy, in fact, Miyabi has suddenly become famous in Indonesia. Public demand for her VCDs and DVDs has increased drastically.


The Jakarta Police on Wednesday launched a crackdown on producers and distributors of pirated pornography and other CDs, VCDs and DVDs.


Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Chrysnanda Dwi Laksana said that five suspects were arrested at five different locations: Jelambar Fajar, Penjaringan and Jalan Ancol Selatan in North Jakarta; Jalan Latumenten, Jalan Lada and Jalan Pinangsia, Taman Sari in West Jakarta; and Jalan Kemayoran Barat in Central Jakarta.


Laksana said that the police had seized five duplicators, 64,828 VCDs and DVDs, most of them pornographic, 3,400 recordable DVDs, 101 film master copies, four sets of stamps, a personal computer, a printer and a L300 minibus.


"The suspects will be charged with violating Article 72, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the 2002 Law on Copyrights, Article 40 of the 1992 Law on Film, and Article 282 of the Criminal Code on crimes against decency," he said.


Communications Minister Muhammad Nuh earlier said that Miyabi`s planned visit was legally not prohibited, but it could cause a controversy because it was against the nation`s morality. He suggested the production house should consider public sentiments and think about replacing Miyabi with a `less controversial actress.`


And some Muslim scholars believed that the presence of Miyabi in an Indonesian film would indirectly `legalize` pornography in this country.


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(f001/A/HAJM/16:30/A014)

(T.F001/A/F001/A/A014) 15-10-2009 16:56:15

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