Antara & Camelia Pasandaran, Bandung – Bandung's factory outlets are open to Miss Universe, but its charity functions are not, according to the West Java branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema.
Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes, who is visiting to crown the new Miss Indonesia on Friday evening, was expected to be a VIP guest at a charity night held by the West Java branch of Bhayangkari, the Association of the Wives of Policemen, next Tuesday.
But after drawing the ire of the West Java branch of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), Lopes, from Angola, told TVOne on Thursday that she was canceling the trip.
A spokesman for the MUI said on Thursday that beauty pageants' process of judging women by their physical attributes was deeply offensive and damaging to women's dignity, making Lopes an improper guest for a police-related charity function.
"But if she only wants to shop at the factory outlets, please," he said. "Even it will be better if she brings lots of money to shop here." He added that the council would have gladly seen the city welcome a Nobel Prize winner or world-class athlete, rather than a Miss Universe.
"There are [selection] sessions in which the [contestants] were only wearing bikinis. Even their height and breast size are measured. It is banned in Islam, while it is highly adored in the process as if they have a high degree of value," said Rafani Akhyar, general secretary of the council. "This is the difference between Islamic and secular states," Rafani said.
Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, said the MUI had more substantial issues it could address.
"This is just man's way to politicize the issue using the name of religion," she said. "Even with women wearing fully covered outfits and veils, if the man has a nasty mind, it won't make a difference. Fix the mind, not the women."
Lopes planned visit had earlier stirred controversy when it was reported that the Bhayangkari had offered Lopes Rp 750 million ($84,000) to appear at the charity function.