57. An affair with the mother-in-law
At the 80th UN General Assembly, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto wrapped up his speech by saying, “Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, Shalom, Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om, Namo Budaya.”
(Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh is an Islamic greeting meaning peace and blessings be upon you; Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, and Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Om needs no explanation)
He said that Indonesia is committed to being part of making this vision a reality and urged nations to complete the journey of peace started by their forefathers.
Indians are going crazy over this, which is understandable.
However, I won’t dwell on world peace. This dream has been a dream for centuries, and till the final day - Kayamat ka din - it will remain just a dream.
India and Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, share at least two things— their love for Hindu gods and a voyeuristic interest in household scandals.
To prove my second point first—voyeuristic interest in household scandals—I have a specific story, an extraordinary story—no longer just a story, in fact, because now it’s also a cinematic story.
In 2022, Norma Risma, a woman from Serang City in Indonesia, exposed her husband and mother's affair in a TikTok video. The story quickly gained media attention.
As a result, it led to a movie deal. The movie Norma has been showing in theaters across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore for seven months.
Norma is a tale of a blissful marriage shattered by the husband's clandestine affair with his mother-in-law.
Earlier, Ipar Adalah Maut, a 2024 Indonesian movie, made news about an affair between a man and his sister-in-law.
And even before that, in 2022, the drama series Layangan Putus was about a family torn apart by a cheating husband.
There appears to be a trend.
One thing is also common – all three got their inspiration from TikTok and were also marketed as based on a viral true story.
I'm surprised by this trend because, in Indonesia, adultery is punishable since the criminal code prohibits sex outside of marriage.
It's common to read in Indonesian newspapers that certain couples were publicly flogged for premarital sex in certain towns.
Currently, the mother-in-law, Rihanah, has returned home after serving eight months in jail for adultery, while the son-in-law, who received a nine-month prison sentence, is also enjoying life at home.
The director and screenplay writers are making rounds, giving interviews, claiming that films like Norma serve as a space for women's empowerment in a patriarchal society and give them the courage to speak out. I have no idea what they are talking about.
Coming to the second point, now.
Remember, during his election campaign to connect with Indians, former US President Barack Obama repeatedly mentioned that India held a special place in his heart. He kept a small photo of Lord Hanuman in his shirt pocket.
He explained that this was because he was often told stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata while living in Indonesia.
He was not lying.
According to historical records, Hinduism arrived in the archipelago in the 1st century CE, followed by Buddhism in the 5th century. Both religions have shaped Indonesia's religious history, leaving a lasting cultural impact that persists today despite neither being the majority.
Islam arrived only in the 8th century, and by the 16th century, it had become the dominant religion.
For many Indonesians, the story of the Ramayana is an integral part of their culture – a tale that depicts a devoted son, a great ruler, and an ideal man.
Indonesia has also issued several Ramayana-themed postage stamps featuring Rama, Sita, and Hanuman. The country's puppet theaters draw much of their repertoire from traditional rites of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Hanuman appears in many historical dance and drama artifacts.
Indonesia has its own version of the Ramayana, known as Kakawin Ramayana written in the old Javanese language during the Medang Empire (732–1006 AD).
The Kakawin Ramayana differs from the Tulsidas’ Ramayan in some ways because its main source was the Sanskrit poem Bhattikavya, written by Bhatti around the 7th century AD. Its revised version is the Balinese Ramkawaka.
Unlike our own Ramayana, where Sita is portrayed as a gentle and patient woman, in the Kakawin Ramayana, she is shown as a brave and strong woman who fights demons in Lanka.
So, coming from such a culturally strong and rich society, the story of Norma not only appears absurd but also illustrates the shifting cultural landscape toward what is called the Western impact.