Nurfika Osman – A Halloween party in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Saturday night got more spooks than it hoped for when public order officers arrived to break up the festivities apparently because some of the young women were wearing costumes deemed too revealing.

The city's spokesman, Muhammad Faisal, said on Sunday that about 10 young women under the age of 22 were arrested at 11 p.m. after celebrating at a local nightspot called Platinum. The women, he said, tried to hide but the officers were able to find them.

"They were released this morning. They only had to bring their ID cards and did not need wear costumes like that to the party," he said. "We had received complaints from residents that they were disturbed by such parties."

Although Samarinda does not have any regulations regarding inappropriate dress, Faisal said some residents had complained. He said the raid was part of the public order officers' program to maintain peace and security, as well as to settle neighborhood disputes.

According to Faisal, a separate Halloween party was also broken up by officers at a house in Sei Pinang subdistrict. He said five young women were found without proper identification and wearing "sexy attire."

Faisal said reports from residents had said that the house was being used as a brothel, however he could not comment further about the case. "The case has just been handed over to the police and they are currently investigating the rumors," he said.

Separately, the municipal administration has closed down two bars because prostitutes were found to be operating on the premises and they were also selling hard liquor without the proper licenses. "Two bars in the city were closed down last Wednesday but we will let them reopen again next month," Faisal said.

He said that the bars would be allowed to reopen after they signed an agreement with the city not to sell the restricted alcohol. "We only permitted them to sell class-A alcohol, which is beer, and they violated this," he said.