Posted
"Your jeans are too tight. And you should be wearing a longer blouse."
It sounded like something my mother would say when I was a teenager, telling me how I should or shouldn't dress.
But those were the words of a police officer in Aceh, Indonesia's most conservative province.
Aceh is the only province that has introduced Sharia law, under a special agreement struck with Indonesia more than a decade ago, to end the long-running separatist war.
This is where people are caned for things that are commonplace in the West, like drinking alcohol, gambling and adultery.
The strict Islamic code increasingly governs every facet of life in Aceh.
Muslim women in Aceh must wear a jilbab, or head scarf.
It is illegal for unmarried couples to touch each other or even sit too close together.
Even cinema and karaoke are banned.
The ABC recently saw firsthand how Sharia law intrudes into everyday life in Aceh.
Sharia police conduct nightly patrols to maintain strict moral standards.
We were invited to accompany a patrol in the northern city of Lhokseumawe.
The patrol assembled before nightfall and included a dozen or so young men in a military-style uniform with black berets, and a handful of older women in similar dress with headscarves.
A superior officer led a short prayer and gave them a pep talk before they headed off.
"Remember to use the five Ss — Senyum, Salam, Sapa, Santun, Simpatik," he said, meaning "smile, greet, say hello, stay polite and be sympathetic".
"Don't be arrogant. We're here to give good advice and tell people to stay away from the bad," the superior officer added.
With that, the men climbed into the patrol vehicle and the women into a separate car and set off to roam the streets, looking for Aceh's version of crime.
We soon found it on the beachfront, in the form of a teenage couple sitting quietly under a tree. It was hard to see if they had been holding hands.
But it is forbidden in Aceh for unrelated men or women to be together like this.
As they were caught in the patrol vehicle's headlights the pair jumped up and ran in different directions.
The boy got away. The Sharia women police reprimanded the girl.
"I told her, next time don't sit in the dark. You're not a married couple. And don't hang out with this boy again. He's irresponsible," policewoman Khairiah Sos said.
The patrol then spied a young woman without a jilbab at an outside restaurant.
The Sharia policemen tumbled out of the truck to reproach her.
But it turned out she was Christian — a tiny minority in Aceh — and didn't have to wear a scarf. The police accepted her explanation and headed off again.
They headed to a house known for its criminal activity. The men here have repeatedly been caught playing dominos, in other words gambling, which is a caning offence.
But this time as police burst through the door they find their "culprit" quietly drinking coffee. They gave him a warning and left.
It was a quiet night for the patrol. Nobody was arrested, so the Sharia police headed back to base.
It's hard to know what ordinary Acehnese think of Sharia law.
Virtually every month a handful of people are caned in public for various crimes, and the punishments seem to be getting more severe.
Two Christians were recently caned for playing a game deemed to have offended Islam.
Last year two men were sentenced to 85 lashes for having gay sex.
But Aceh is a deeply conservative place. Many people openly say they are opposed to homosexuality, drinking and gambling.
Often it is vigilante neighbours who report such crimes to the Sharia police.
Even if people here opposed Sharia rule it is enshrined in Aceh's law.
Political parties can't or won't push for reform, even at democratic national and regional elections.
Despite opposition from human rights groups, Islamic rulers in Aceh appear to be hardening.
Earlier this month they revealed they're considering introducing beheading as a punishment for murder.
They say they'll gauge public opinion before enshrining it in law.
As an outsider it's easy to dismiss Aceh as an exception in Indonesia — a remote and distant outpost that has no bearing on the rest of the country.
But as Aceh has become increasingly conservative, over the past decade, Indonesia as a whole has shifted in the same direction.
Increasing numbers of women across the country are wearing the veil.
Persecution of minorities, including gays and lesbians, transgender people, Chinese and Christians, is on the rise.
The most famous example was the imprisonment last year of Jakarta's former Christian governor on charges of blasphemy.
Hardline Islamic leaders in Indonesia, no doubt inspired by what is allowed in Aceh, are pushing to implement similar practices elsewhere.
The vocal hardline minority often gets more publicity than the silent but tolerant majority.
Many here fear Indonesia's much vaunted 'unity in diversity' — the country's national motto — is slowly ebbing away.
Topics: religion-and-beliefs, law-crime-and-justice, indonesia