At his upmarket Bali spas, Roger Paulus Silalahi has been overseeing renovations, ready to pamper tourists with herbal massages and milk baths as they return to the Indonesian holiday island after a crippling pandemic lockdown.
But last week the entrepreneur’s optimism was jolted after parliament approved a sweeping new criminal code featuring tough curbs on personal freedoms — including a ban on sex outside marriage, with a punishment of up to one year in jail.
The laws will apply to everyone — Indonesian citizens, foreign residents and tourists — in the world’s third-largest democracy and most populous Muslim nation.
