The billboard is from Indonesia. Click on the image to enlarge.
Some great comment from our readers:
Anonymous said...
Notice that in the X side of the picture - the people are active and smiling.in the Muslim side - they are not.
Notice that in the X side of the picture - the people are active and smiling.in the Muslim side - they are not.
Damien said...
Anonymous,Yeah I did notice that, but thanks for pointing it out anyway. Also on the Muslim side they seem stiff like Robots, especially the father. At least I think he is supposed to be the head of the family.
Anonymous,Yeah I did notice that, but thanks for pointing it out anyway. Also on the Muslim side they seem stiff like Robots, especially the father. At least I think he is supposed to be the head of the family.
Strul Z. said...
There is a whole wealth of meanings in the two pictures, most of them probably unintended. I think it is highly significant that the tangible symbols of modern civilisation in the first picture - tall buildings, what seems to be a motorway flyover - are replaced by a mosque in the second. The contrast between relaxed, carefree spontaneity and "submission" could not be more stark.
There is a whole wealth of meanings in the two pictures, most of them probably unintended. I think it is highly significant that the tangible symbols of modern civilisation in the first picture - tall buildings, what seems to be a motorway flyover - are replaced by a mosque in the second. The contrast between relaxed, carefree spontaneity and "submission" could not be more stark.
Pastorius,
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know, but I think we can rule out the more extreme Islamic fundamentalist societies like Afghanistan under the Taliban or Saudi Arabia. The picture is showing women with their faces uncovered after all. Note that extreme in this case is definitively a relative term.
It's modern moderate Malaysia I think....
ReplyDeleteNotice that in the X side of the picture - the people are active and smiling.
ReplyDeletein the Muslim side - they are not.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYeah I did notice that, but thanks for pointing it out anyway. Also on the Muslim side they seem stiff like Robots, especially the father. At least I think he is supposed to be the head of the family.
This is in Indonesia. Look at the writing on the bottom right of the billboard. KOTA LHOKSEUMAWE (Indonesian: City of Lhokseumawe) is in Aceh, that part of Indonesia where the fundamentalists have taken control and imposed Sharia. It's a pity the earthquake and tsunami didn't make the whole stinking island sink into the ocean.
ReplyDeleteIndonesian, guys.
ReplyDeleteThere is a whole wealth of meanings in the two pictures, most of them probably unintended. I think it is highly significant that the tangible symbols of modern civilisation in the first picture - tall buildings, what seems to be a motorway flyover - are replaced by a mosque in the second. I can't read the text, but the word "islam" occurs five times, the word "syari'at" once. The contrast between relaxed, carefree spontaneity and "submission" could not be more stark.
ReplyDelete