FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Ever since the Netherlands officially recognized Indonesia’s independence in 1949, moderates have wrestled with Islamic hardliners who would like to bring the country under Sharia law and punish the mildest offenses with the rough end of a rattan.

Judging by Islamist protests in recent years, it is not difficult to imagine how zealots would react to the sight of scantily clad women strutting across a stage in an international beauty contest held on home soil. The Puteri Indonesia Foundation, however, is putting these views to the test by proposing a Miss Universe pageant in Indonesia.

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