Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Indonesia

Tunisian wins Muslim beauty pageant, calls for free Palestine

by

Computer scientist Fatma Ben Guefrache was announced the winner and received a prize which includes a gold watch, a gold dinar, and mini pilgrimage to Mecca.

Winner of the 2014 World Muslimah Awards Fatma Ben Guefrache (C) of Tunisia walks with children during the grand final in Yogyakarta. (Photo: AFP/Adek Berry)

Winner of the 2014 World Muslimah Awards Fatma Ben Guefrache (C) of Tunisia walks with children during the grand final in Yogyakarta. (Photo: AFP/Adek Berry)

by Channel News Asia

Prambanan: A Tunisian woman called for a free Palestine as she won a pageant exclusively for Muslims in Indonesia on Friday (Nov 21), seen as a riposte to Western beauty contests.

Eighteen finalists, who include a doctor and a computer scientist, paraded in glittering dresses against the backdrop of world-renowned ancient temples for the contest in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Computer scientist Fatma Ben Guefrache was announced the winner and received a prize which includes a gold watch, a gold dinar, and mini pilgrimage to Mecca. “May almighty Allah help me in this mission, and free Palestine, please, please, free Palestine and the Syrian people,” the tearful 25-year-old woman said.

The 18 finalists were required to wear the Muslim headscarf and judged not only on their appearance, but also on how well they recite verses from the Koran and their views on Islam in the modern world. “We want to see that they understand everything about the Islamic way of life – from what they eat, what they wear, how they live their lives,” said Jameyah Sheriff, one of the organisers.

The World Muslimah Award first drew global attention in 2013 when organisers presented it as a peaceful protest to Miss World, which was taking place around the same time on the resort island of Bali.

While it remains popular in some countries, British-run Miss World has faced frequent accusations that it is degrading to women, and a round in which contestants pose in bikinis has been a lightning rod for criticism.

In an effort to appease hardliners, Miss World organisers axed the bikini round for the Bali edition, but the event still sparked demonstrations from Islamic radicals who dubbed it a “whore contest”.

Headscarves not scary

British contestant Dina Torkia said she hoped this year’s World Muslimah Award would not only provide a contrast to Western beauty pageants, but would also dispel prejudices against Islam. “I think the most important thing is to show that we are really normal girls, we are not married to terrorists. This scarf on my head isn’t scary,” she told AFP.

However the 2014 pageant has faced challenges, with seven finalists dropping out and others struggling with Indonesia’s complex bureaucracy to obtain visas. Most who pulled out did so because their families did not want them to travel alone, Sheriff said.

The Indian contestant missed her initial flight as she was being questioned by officials who were suspicious of a woman travelling alone and wearing a headscarf, although she managed to get on a plane later.

Others have gone to great lengths to take part in the fourth edition of the event, with Masturah Jamil quitting her teaching job in Singapore after her employer would not give her time off to participate.

Organisers hope to present positive role models for Islamic women around the world and the contestants, who are aged between 18 and 27, include a newly qualified doctor from Bangladesh.

But not everyone was enjoying the final rounds, with Britain’s Torkia saying her initial optimism had turned into disappointment. “I came into this competition hoping that I would leave with my faith increased, but so far it’s been a lot about promotion and media and looking nice,” she said.

Friday’s finale caps a lengthy process, which included an online audition followed by two weeks of events in Indonesia. During their time in Indonesia, contestants have visited orphanages and nursing homes, and had their pictures taken at Borobudur, a famous Buddhist temple close to Yogyakarta, Java’s cultural heartland.

The finale takes place on a stage against the backdrop of Prambanan, a ninth-century complex of Hindu temples on the island of Java that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hosting the event at a Hindu site was a conscious decision to show that Muslims are accepting of other religions, organisers said.

AFP/ec

Tsunami alert sparks panic in Indonesia

by

Tsunami Indonesia

Kota Ternate, Indonesia/AFP: A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia Saturday, sparking a tsunami warning and causing panicked people to flee their homes.

Small waves generated by the undersea quake were detected in several parts of the sprawling archipelago, local authorities said, although there were no reports of casualties or major damage and the tsunami warning was lifted after a short while.

Nevertheless, the prospect of a major tsunami set nerves on edge in one of the most seismically active countries in the world, almost a decade after quake-triggered destructive waves devastated western Aceh province.

The tsunami of December 26, 2004, left more than 170,000 people dead in Aceh, on Sumatra island, and tens of thousands more in countries with coasts on the Indian Ocean.

Saturday’s tremor struck northwest of the town of Kota Ternate, at 0231 GMT, the US Geological Survey said. It was followed by a series of aftershocks that measured between magnitude 4.3 and 5.8, the USGS said.

“Tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 kilometres,” said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The centre also warned of small tsunami waves in the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and islands in the South Pacific.

On the tiny Sangihe Islands close to the epicentre in Indonesia, people ran out of their homes when the quake hit, Toni Supit, head of the islands’ Sitaro district, told AFP.

“People in coastal areas felt the strong quake, which lasted for quite some time, and they immediately went to the sea to see if the water was receding abnormally, which is a sign of an incoming tsunami,” he said.

  • Ring of fire –

Tsunami waves nine centimetres high were detected at Jailolo on Halmahera island, in the Maluku Islands, the meteorological agency said. Tiny waves were also detected in Tobelo on Halmahera, and in Manado, on nearby Sulawesi island.

An agency official on Sulawesi said early reports indicated that cracks had appeared in the walls of some houses after the quake, although full damage reports had yet to come in.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said earlier that waves up to one metre high could hit parts of Indonesia, while waves below 30 centimetres were forecast for the coasts of the Philippines.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency warned people in the northern Maluku Islands and in the north of Sulawesi in particular to stay away from the coast.

Julius Galgiano, a Philippine government seismologist, said the Philippines had also issued a tsunami warning.

“We are telling (local communities) to have a tsunami watch in areas along the coast,” he said, but added that no evacuation orders had been issued and the tsunami waves were not expected to be high.

Around two hours after the quake, the warning centre said there was no longer a tsunami threat.

“The tsunami threat from this earthquake has now mostly passed. Any remaining threat should be evaluated by local authorities in impacted areas,” it said.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity, and has been hit by numerous deadly earthquakes over the years.

A 6.1-magnitude quake that hit inland in Aceh in July last year left at least 30 people dead and thousands homeless. It caused a mosque to collapse in one village, killing six children as they took part in a Koran reading session.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives