The proliferation of regional and local laws, and their conflict with national law, receives some attention.

The Front Penyelamat Tangerang, or Tangerang Saviors Front (FPT), attacked a complex of shops thought to be dens of sin.

From the depths of time grave threats to the nation have re-arisen, Sundanese nationalism and international communism.

Some stories from around the country on morality lifting efforts by the authorities and police and the less than pleased response of some.

A couple of cases of religious deviancy and the consequent responses of ordinary people and the authorities.

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) is the largest Muslim body in the country and is chiefly responsible for the reputation of Indonesia as a place of moderate Islam. Its current leader, Hasyim Muzadi, gives his opinions on the sharia debate.

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The growing application of sharia based laws in the province of South Sulawesi, and elsewhere, is bound up in the role of a group called the Preparatory Committee for the Application of Islamic Laws.

In Tangerang the carrying of make-up compacts and lipstick may land women in court on charges of prostitution.

The Islamic Defenders Front, FPI, are concerned about the problem of human refuse in the city of Depok, specifically dangdut dancers and singers such as Inul Daratista.

The Indonesian Ulema Council is in the process of creating an anti-sin ordinance for Jakarta.

A group of liberal Muslim leaders said at a conference on Saturday that the prevalence of mob rule threatened to cause the break-up of the country.

The three men on death row for the first Bali terror attacks in 2002 have not sought clemency and neither so far have their families and therefore they will likely soon find out whether Allah rewards mass murderers with 72 virgins in heaven.

While the administration of Tangerang, in Banten province, near Jakarta, frets about the length of schoolgirls' skirts and decides that four minute kissing bouts are ok but not five minutes, real problems in the city, such as child malnutrition, are ignored.

Kissing in public for longer than five minutes in the city of Tangerang, near Jakarta, may land you on the wrong side of the law.

A Christian pre-school in Tangerang, Banten, near Jakarta, was surrounded by a mob yesterday which demanded that it close down.

The municipality of Tangerang, an industrial satelite city of Jakarta with about 3 million unfortunate inhabitants, has passed a number of draconian laws against prostitution and drinking which have caused more than a few complaints.

Muslim groups staged rallies yesterday at the Tangerang local council and the administration office in support of the pornography bill, which is being deliberated by the House of Representatives.

One small step at a time the administration of Tangerang, a satellite city of Jakarta, seeks to implement sharia law. The latest foray in this area sees the local government attempt to ban the selling of food during Friday prayers.

The Sang Timur Roman Catholic school in the city of Tangerang, near Jakarta, which has about 2000 students, has been suffering constant harassment from local Muslim residents since, in October 2004, they built a wall at the main entrance to the school to prevent access.

Christmas Eve security in Jakarta.