Playboy Returns To Indonesia
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BANGKOK, Thailand – The publishers of Indonesia’s version of Playboy magazine defied militant Islamists yesterday by producing their second issue. The first edition in April sparked mob violence and the glossy magazine’s offices were stoned. Its editors have now moved to the majority-Hindu island of Bali, where they have produced a 100,000-copy second issue.
Although Indonesia’s Muslim majority is largely moderate, there is a trend toward the imposition of Shariah law.
Playboy’s publishers said they were producing the magazine to defend democracy and freedom of expression against fear and intolerance. An editorial called for “the absence of a monopoly set of values and views in our beloved country.” The magazine is tamer than its Western version. Pictures of scantily clad models replace nudity.
But newsstands in Jakarta did not display copies openly. “We sell them more discreetly,” one vendor said.
