Jakarta – A non-halal (non-kosher) culinary festival in Solo (Surakarta) was cancelled after objections from the Surakarta City Shariah (Islamic Law) Council (DSKS).
Originally, the event titled "The Nusantara Chinatown Culinary Festival" was to be held at the Solo Paragon Mall on July 3-7. But there were objections from the DSKS that were delivered in writing through the municipal government (Pemkot) and Surakarta municipal police (Polresta).
DSKS public relations officer Endro Sudarsono claimed that the culinary festival had given rise to anxiety and unrest among the public.
"Citizens were upset because it was too vulgar", he said after submitting a letter at the Office of the Solo city Regional Secretariat (Setda) Office for Protocol and Communication (Prokompim) on Wednesday July 3.
He compared it to similar non-halal culinary festivals held in other areas. Although they presenting non-halal culinary, the festivals were not too open about publicising their activities.
"In Sukoharjo or where there were also activities like this, they were not so vulgar. The one here was different. It was publicised massively on social media, and the billboard was huge", said Sudarsono.
Aside from this, Sudarsono questioned the permit for the non-halal culinary festival at the Solo Paragon Mall. He said that the Solo municipal government had not issued a permit for the activity at the shopping centre.
"We have confirmed it with the Kesbangpol [National Unity and Political Agency] and it has been confirmed by the Kesbangpol that there was no permit", he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Solo Kesbangpol, Indradi, said that their agency is not authorised to issue permits for public events. That authority lies with the Surakarta municipal police.
"And indeed, we do not have the authority to issue permits for public events", said Indradi.
The billboard reading "The Nusantara Chinatown Culinary Festival, Legendary Non-Halal Culinary, Viral, and Hits" in front of Solo Paragon Mall has been taken down and the culinary booths in the mall's atrium have been covered with black cloth.
One of the people looking after a stand who declined to give their name said their stall was open for several hours and they even had time to serve several customers.
At around 12 noon however the organiser suddenly asked all booths to stop their activities.
Another stand owner, Fahmi, said he was surprised by the cancellation of the culinary festival because he has participated in similar activities several times at the Solo Paragon Mall.
"Last month there was also an event like this. The previous one was safe", he said.
When contacted separately, the Solo Paragon Mall management confirmed that they had temporarily suspended the festival saying the decision was taken because of opposition from residents.
"Rather than being seen as causing anxiety. Yes, it was better that we deactivated it first", said Solo Paragon Mall head of marketing and communication, Veronica Lahji.
Vero, as she is known by her friends, said they are still waiting for developments to determine what position to take next. Because, many participants from out of town have already incurred a fee to attend the festival.
"We're still waiting for the next directive, so we can't be sure yet", she said. (ocd/wis)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was " Festival Kuliner Non-Halal di Solo Disetop Imbas Protes Ormas".]
