Kreteks ousted from draft cultural heritage bill

Articles acknowledging kreteks as part of Indonesia’s cultural heritage have been removed from a draft culture bill by the country’s House of Representatives, according to a story in The Jakarta Post citing a report by kompas.com.

The decision was said to have been made by the House’s Commission X, which on Wednesday oversaw a meeting on Education and Youth Affairs.

“During Commission X’s internal meeting, which was attended by all factions, we agreed to remove the kretek articles from the culture draft bill,” said Teuku Riefky Harsya, head of Commission X. “Thus, the draft bill that will be proposed will no longer include the term ‘traditional kretek’.”

The articles concerning kreteks became a topic for debate following a House legislative body meeting on September 14 at which it was agreed that this product was a part of the country’s cultural heritage that should be protected, facilitated in terms of development, promoted and even showcased at festivals.

Riefky said that if during the discussion of a draft bill the public objected to certain articles, then, as the representatives of the people, legislators had to reconsider those articles.