Arya Dipa, Bandung – The West Java provincial branch of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) has called on all radio and television stations in the province to refrain from broadcasting songs or video clips depicting lyrics which may be deemed pornographic.
West Java KPID commissioner Nursyawal conveyed the call following demands from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the provincial legislative council (DPRD) and the community in general.
"As of September this year we have received 263 complaints through various media including text messages, mails, email, telephone calls and other social networking media regarding the contents of TV and radio broadcasts," said Nursyawal who oversees broadcast-content issues for the commission.
Songs considered pornographic include "Mobil Bergoyang" (Rocking Car), "Cinta Satu Malam" (One Night Love), "Hamil Duluan" (Pregnant Out of Wedlock), "Aku Ingin Dilubangi" (I Want to be Perforated) and "Mari Bercinta 2" (Let's Make Love 2).
"Mobil Bergoyang", for example, which starts off with the sound of a girl moaning, contains lyrics describing how bad girls don't need expensive hotels to make love but only a car.
The song "Hamil Duluan" describes how an unmarried couple's sexual activity results in the girl getting pregnant.
"We also analyzed the semiotic meanings of the lyrics," Nursyawal said.
Nursyawal said that the commission was not acting as a censor banning the creation of songs or video clips.
"What we can do is ban them from being broadcast. Even in developed countries such as the US, which has been dubbed the most liberal country, songs and videos containing sexual material are not allowed to be broadcast in public," he said.
He added that the KPID had the authority to ban the broadcasting of material considered to contain elements of violence, sadism or pornography. "If our call is violated, we have the right to take sanctions," he said.
This year alone, according to Nursyawal, the West Java KPID had issued 17 letters of call, 60 letters of warning and 14 letters asking for clarification to broadcast media in response to various complaints from the community.
Parents for the most part warmly welcomed the KPID move. Iman Herdiana, 29, a father of two, for example, said he was really disturbed when he heard his two-and-a-half-year old daughter singing the "Cinta Satu Malam" song. "It's too vulgar to listen to," he said.
Iman said his daughter learned the song from television and therefore told his wife to switch the channel whenever the video was broadcast.
Separately, music director Ricky Prasetya of Cosmo dangdut radio station in Bandung – which has 376,000 listeners according to the AC Nielsen survey, said that the songs broadcast by his station were requested by its listeners.
He said he was once summoned by the West Java KPID with regard to the broadcasting of "Mobil Bergoyang" by his station. He also said he fully understood why he was summoned because the song did contain sexual elements.
"Yet, we hope the KPID also understands why we broadcast the song. Our listeners want to hear the song and we don't want to lose our listeners," Ricky told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
To help deal with the situation, he added, he chose to air songs with pornographic elements at night. "But, if we are still banned from doing so, we will pay attention to it," he said.