Prodita Sabarini – Bogor's Chinatown has for years been famous for its modest restaurants serving tasty pork dishes. A new city administration policy that plans to make Bogor a halal city, however, has made such vendors uneasy.
From Jl. Suryakencana to Jl Sukasari are rows of shops, restaurants and vendors selling food on carts. Walking along the sidewalk, one can smell the enticing aroma of pork skewers or spicy noodle soup with pork ribs. Several restaurants there also sell ngohiang, a unique pork-filled roll.
In a city where the majority of the population is Muslim, Bogor's ethnic Chinese have a long history and dishes they serve have been a regular attraction for tourists from Jakarta and surrounds.
"On weekends, parking spaces are filled with cars with Jakarta license plates," restaurant owner Ricky Leonardo said. His family restaurant, Cahaya Baru, serves Chinese food. Ricky said they never hide the fact they use pork and Chinese cooking wine (angchiu) in their dishes.
Ricky had heard about the possible ban on pigs at the city slaughterhouse and Mayor Diani Budiarto's decision to make Bogor a halal city.
"It's wrong. It's discriminatory," he said. For Rudy (not his real name), the policy was divisive. "Why don't they eliminate ethnic Chinese altogether?" he said with a smirk.
Rudy was waiting at his restaurant that serves Ciseeng Noodle Soup. Rudy's grandfather had been one of the first to bring the pork rib soup to Bogor, selling it in the Ciseeng area.
Next to Rudy was pork skewer seller, Wiwik. For Wiwik, the city administration was creating a division between the different groups in Bogor. Until now people have never had any problems with food businesses offering pork dishes.
Neither Rudy or Wiwik ever used the Indonesian word babi for pig in conversations. As if the word babi was inappropriate, they replaced it with b2 or ba.
Bogor Agrobusiness Agency chief Herlin Krisnaningsih said the policy of Bogor as a halal city did not prohibit people from selling or consuming pork dishes. "They are allowed to. People who want to sell or eat pork can (still) do so," she said.
The city administration however, does not accommodate the food sellers' need for pork meat. Rudy said he buys pork meat at the traditional markets. "They still have supplies, even though it's unstable," he said.
When pork meat is not available at Bogor's traditional markets, Rudy gets it from Jakarta markets such as Senen or Pejagalan. "We still need to do business, right?" he said.
The director of the Indonesia Ulema Council Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics (LP POM MUI), Nadratuzzaman Hosen, said the establishment of Bogor as a halal city was meant to protect Muslim consumers from accidentally consuming haram or non-halal foods.
LP POM MUI encourages restaurants to obtain halal certification so consumers can feel safe eating out. The Bogor mayor, however, moved further by banning pigs at the city's new slaughterhouse.
Bogor resident Riza Wicaksono welcomed the new policy because it would give him more certainty as to whether his food was halal or not. Sometimes when eating-out Riza was not sure whether the food was 100 percent halal or not, he said. "(Now) we can be more certain that our food is halal."
"Like in Chinese food, I believe using cooking wine or angchiu is not halal, but restaurants sometimes do not tell their customers they use it," he said.
For Rudy, the policy shows how the leaders of the city had discriminated against an ethnic minority. "Our politicians, they just do what they want when they are in power," Rudy said.
"For me, they are wrong. Bogor does not only have Muslims living here. We are a pluralist city," he said.
"What people choose to eat is a human right, regardless of race and religion. I have pribumi (native Indonesians) coming here to eat, knowing the food has that (pork) in it, because they like it," Rudy said.