Camelia Pasandaran – The Depok municipal administration in West Java said it will close all karaoke businesses in the city, saying local bylaws don't permit them.

Administration spokesman Fachmi Muhamad said authorities would begin closing establishments which violated local regulations. The Public Order Agency was reported to have set a deadline of Sunday for all karaoke operators to voluntarily close or face forced closure.

"Some of the businesses opened karaoke houses but requested permits for restaurants or music studios," Fachmi said. "However, under Depok bylaws, karaoke houses are not categorized as recreational businesses so they should never have been opened."

Under the 2003 bylaws covering permits for tourism businesses, recreational businesses are said to include swimming pools, bowling allies, billiard halls, event venues, movie theaters, fitness clubs, and art and cultural studios. There is no mention of karaoke houses, which are hugely popular.

Several ulama earlier this year asked the government to ban karaoke houses, alleging they were places used for immoral acts. Some are used as fronts for brothels.

Depok has been criticized previously for enacting Shariah-style laws. Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail is from the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). There are at least three karaoke houses which are well known in Depok: Nav, Inul Vista and Venus.

Rini, a 34-year-old housewife and a Depok resident, said the government was overreacting. "My two children like to go to karaoke houses," she said. "But the places have been shut down."

She said the government's reason to ban karaoke houses in Depok was unreasonable. "It is better for those who like to sing to go to karaoke houses than sing loudly with a home sound system that may disturb their neighbors," she said.

Rini said she often took her children to Nav karaoke house but did not find it a dangerous place. "It is a safe place, where children can spend time with their families," she said. "It's not like other karaoke houses, which have seedy elements to them."

"However, if the government did not agree with this business, it should have shut the karaoke houses much earlier, not now when they've been operating for this long a time and people have grown to like them," she said.