Aceh is the only province in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law. People can face floggings for a range of offences — from gambling, to drinking alcohol, to gay sex.
In the latest caning, five people — two women and three men — were flogged in front of a cheering crowd at a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
The 34-year-old woman who yelled in pain had been found guilty of spending time in close proximity with a man who was not her husband in contravention of Aceh’s Islamic regulations.
She was lashed seven times with a rattan cane by a man wearing long robes and a hood, with just slits for the eyes.
“It hurts so bad,” the woman said, raising her arms into the air, as she was beaten.
The 32-year-old man with whom she was caught was also flogged seven times.
Two university students, both 19, received 100 lashes of the cane after they confessed to sex outside marriage. They stared at the ground as they were flogged, showing little emotion.
A man found guilty of sex outside marriage was flogged 22 times although his partner, who is two-months pregnant, is still waiting to learn her fate after facing trial at an Islamic court.
However Aceh authorities typically spare pregnant women from canings.
Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
Islamic laws have been strengthened since the province struck a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005, and there has been a particular increase in the number of women being caned in recent times.

Kobsak Chutikul, secretary-general of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council, said the withdrawal of Pax Americana, the cornerstone of peace and stability in Asia since the end of World War II, could open a “can of worms”.
Kobsak was speaking at Horasis Asia Meeting, a gathering of 350 international business leaders, government officials and academics at the Shangri-La Hotel.
In the session on “managing the complexity of Asian geopolitics”, he cited the case of Thai-US relations, with the Kingdom being the first American treaty ally in Asia after the signing of the Treaty of Amity in 1833.
“Pax Americana has served us well,” Kobsak said, citing the example of US decision not to penalise Thailand for siding with Japan since a Thai government-in-exile in Washington during World War II refused to sign a pact with Tokyo. Thailand was also supported by the US when it joined the United Nations as an independent nation.
In addition, the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej was born in the US, the only monarch to have been born there. These factors, among others, have underpinned the foundation of Thai-US relations as part the United States’ broader Asia relations.
Kobsak said there were two schools of thought on the Trump presidency. One saw it as a happy outcome since Thailand had not joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Another, more pessimistic, view evidenced concerns that Thailand would lose its latitude of choices that it had come to enjoy. “In Southeast Asia, we engage in all kind of hedges,” Kobsak said.
With the reduced US role in Asia, “if that takes away the choice, we will feel the pressure”.
Will the US respect Japan, Korea or Asean sufficiently? “No one knows,” Kobsak said, adding that it was a valid question going into 2017.
Kobsak quoted an article written by outgoing US President Barack Obama arguing that the TPP would enable the United States to write the rules regarding global trade in the 21st century. Without the TPP, he added, China will by default set the rules, perhaps creating a new “Pax Sinica”.

The Trump presidency and his policy towards Asia dominated much of the dozen or so topics discussed at the meeting attended by more than 350 leading international businesspeople, government officials and academics at the Shangri-La Hotel.
Participants at the Horasis Asia Meeting, billed as one of the biggest international business conferences in Thailand this year, agreed that Asia and the world would undergo huge changes – not just with the surprise victory of Trump but also in regard to a needed populist agenda for those who have missed out on the benefits of globalisation.
And China and Russia are set to play a significant role in upcoming geopolitical developments, some speakers at the conference suggested.
“We are in a changed context,” said John Denton, CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth from Australia, who asserted that Asia and the world are bracing for a collapse of old security alliances.
He suggested that Asian nations should allow for more strategic space for China’s political priorities “such as importance attached to the party congress rather than Trump’s [government]. With this, China should accept the long-time geopolitics that underpinned stability in Asia. If the geopolitics is not in place, nothing else matters.”
Kobsak Chutikul, Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council’s secretary-general, said Southeast Asian nations have enjoyed choices under “Pax Americana” in the region, but if the “choice is taken away we will feel the pressure … nobody know what will happen in 2017”.
A more optimistic note came from Chitra Narayanan of the Switzerland-based Geneva Centre for Security Policy, predicting that “stability will always be there and Asia has a way of dealing with it”. She cited the seemingly ongoing accommodating relations between China and India.
A wish list presented at a session joined by businesspeople from India, Japan, Myanmar, the Philippines and Nigeria, presided over by Horasis chairman Frank-Jurgen Richter, included “stability, harmony, dialogue, peace, prosperity, creativity and innovation, inclusiveness”.
These were echoed by “trust”, which speakers at another session said was fast eroding to an extent due to government and business relations.
Alastair Campbel, chairman of Bridger Hong Kong, said the tradition of trust was breaking down between people and ruling elites.
Trust, he said, comprises the rule of law, cultural norms and agreement frameworks – while the world now knows Western values and US domination are giving way to a new environment.
China and Russia will play a significant role, Campbel said, adding that neither had a “set menu” for international relations. The challenge is “how to establish trust for the world so that there is less volatility”.
Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, president of Institute of Future Studies for Development, Thailand, saw “constructive engagement” and “flexible engagement” as practised by Asean members as a means to rebuild trust. But other speakers were less confident in Asean’s ability to meet the challenges facing Asia.
Adam Schwarz, CEO of Asia Group Advisors, sounded an optimistic note, saying Asia Pacific was a region largely at peace although political tensions existed, which could not be said of other parts of the world.
He added that while dialogue must be stepped up, there was a lack of trust in regional institutions persisting as people have been unwilling in the past to invest in confidence-building bodies. Such a situation leaves Asia subject to “leadership changes and political whims”.

At a regular media briefing, the ministry’s spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated that Beijing firmly opposed countries with diplomatic ties with China having official exchanges, including military cooperation and exchanges, with Taiwan.

He said China wants Singapore to strictly adhere to the One-China principle.

Last Friday, a Hong Kong Customs’ spokesman said they had intercepted 12 containers of  “suspected controlled items” bound for Singapore during “a routine ship search.”

Nine military vehicles and other equipment were seized last Wednesday at the city’s Kwai Chung Container Terminal.

Singapore’s Ministry of Defence said the cargo had “no ammunition or sensitive equipment on board.”

A team from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) arrived in Hong Kong last Friday and met the representatives of APL, the shipping line involved, on Saturday.

The SAF conducts overseas training in a dozen or so territories. In doing so, it hires commercial shippers to transport military equipment to and from Singapore.

Mindef said the SAF vehicles seized  have been moved to a secure area with access control.

The vehicles and other equipment have been moved to the Hong Kong Customs depot at the River Trade Terminal, with the shipping containers that were opened for inspection resealed by the Hong Kong Customs, said Mindef.

He made the announcement on the sidelines of a dialogue with enterprises, as Hanoi authorities said they would extend support to companies in a context that a growing business community still faces significant obstacles in its operations.
“This year witnessed strong development of Hanoi’s business community,” municipal Party Committee Secretary Hoang Trung Hai said.
This year, nearly 23,000 companies were established in the capital, raising the total to 202,255.
“This is the highest rise in six years, showing increasing business confidence,” Hai said.
The increase helped the city reduce unemployment, foster economic growth and enhance people’s lives, he said.
People’s Committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Doan Toan said the city would be a vanguard in improving the business climate and supporting enterprises.
“The city requires administrative units to fully publicise master plans, policies and procedures,” he said.
However, the meeting was told that companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), still face significant difficulties in accessing land and capital, applying technology and developing markets.
Some policies remain incomprehensive, holding back businesses, participants said.
Quang Hien, chairman of the local SME association, said procedures related to business registration, land allocation and asset evaluation were still complex.
Private investors still hesitated to invest in equitised businesses because the state retains a controlling stake in the management apparatus of many firms.
A representative of Hanoimilk said the company was seeing obstacles in clearing ground for its grass-growing and cow-breeding project in MLinh district.
He asked municipal authorities for support related to compensation rates to ease pressure on its investments.
Vu Thi Hau, deputy general director of the Nhat Nam JSC, which owns the Fivimart chain, told the local press that certain Ministry of Science and Technology regulations on imported goods discourage enterprises.
Importers have to have their goods examined at different places by different agencies, incurring significant expenses, according to Hau.
Chung said many business promotion programmes were inefficient, since the value of trade agreements reached during international exhibitions and fairs was smaller than the amount spent on promotion.
“Investment promotion funds are to be restructured,” he reportedly said.
Chung also said the city would establish a special working group to deal with business proposals and complaints on a “one-stop shop” model on January 1.
“We have carefully discussed this for six months. The city aims to settle every request of enterprises within a week,” he said.

“It is a very ambitious, very complicated and a very expansive project, in terms of scale.
“We have to try our best to anticipate what the likely issues are, when we build it, when we operate it, and have a clear understanding on how we will deal with it if a situation arises,” Lee said in an interview with Malaysian state news agency Bernama on Monday.
“The first thing is to have a sound agreement between the two countries on the basis of how the project is structured, how it is going to be executed and how it is backed by the two governments,” said Lee in the interview, whose transcript was released by the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday.
“That is the first requirement, that we have a very good agreement which sets out clearly a sound basis to build and operate the system.”
Both countries have been discussing the agreement for more than a year, he said.
“We are almost there, and I hope that when I meet Prime Minister Najib at the next retreat, we will be able to sign the agreement,” he said.
On Tuesday, Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan met Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wanb
Abdul Rahman said on Instagram they met “to harmonise last minute details of the bilateral agreement on Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail project before signing ceremony in December”.
A memorandum of understanding for the HSR project was signed in July by Khaw and Abdul Rahman, and it was witnessed by the two prime ministers.
Construction is expected to begin in 2018, with trains running in 2026.
Lee said the project’s execution will be very important – designing it, calling for tenders, evaluating the proposals.
“Several high-speed rail systems in the world have been lobbying very hard to get this contract – the Japanese, the Koreans, the Chinese high-speed rail,” he said.
“Each has its strengths, and we will have a very difficult decision evaluating the bidders who come along and deciding which one is the best overall.”
Asked about the cost-sharing of construction, Lee said things like that had to be clearly specified, and it was one of the items that made the project complicated.
“When you have two authorities involved, you have to decide how to partition, where the line is drawn.
“I build my part, you build your part, and we have to meet at the same point,” he said.
“If it does not meet then we have a big problem,” he said.
“It is complicated but there is a will. And there is a good will, and we would like to make it succeed.”
He was also asked if a third bridge between Singapore and Malaysia – which some in Malaysia had suggested recently – is necessary with the HSR project.
“We are not currently planning for a third bridge,” he said.
“I have seen some statements in Malaysia suggesting one, but the high-speed rail is a very ambitious project. I would focus all my energies doing that one before we launch a new big project.”

The Trump presidency and his policy towards Asia dominated much of the dozen or so topics discussed at the meeting attended by more than 350 leading international businesspeople, government officials and academics at the Shangri-La Hotel.
Participants at the Horasis Asia Meeting, billed as one of the biggest international business conferences in Thailand this year, agreed that Asia and the world would undergo huge changes – not just with the surprise victory of Trump but also in regard to a needed populist agenda for those who have missed out on the benefits of globalisation.
And China and Russia are set to play a significant role in upcoming geopolitical developments, some speakers at the conference suggested.
“We are in a changed context,” said John Denton, CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth from Australia, who asserted that Asia and the world are bracing for a collapse of old security alliances.
He suggested that Asian nations should allow for more strategic space for China’s political priorities “such as importance attached to the party congress rather than Trump’s [government]. With this, China should accept the long-time geopolitics that underpinned stability in Asia. If the geopolitics is not in place, nothing else matters.”
Kobsak Chutikul, Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council’s secretary-general, said Southeast Asian nations have enjoyed choices under “Pax Americana” in the region, but if the “choice is taken away we will feel the pressure … nobody know what will happen in 2017”.
A more optimistic note came from Chitra Narayanan of the Switzerland-based Geneva Centre for Security Policy, predicting that “stability will always be there and Asia has a way of dealing with it”. She cited the seemingly ongoing accommodating relations between China and India.
A wish list presented at a session joined by businesspeople from India, Japan, Myanmar, the Philippines and Nigeria, presided over by Horasis chairman Frank-Jurgen Richter, included “stability, harmony, dialogue, peace, prosperity, creativity and innovation, inclusiveness”.
These were echoed by “trust”, which speakers at another session said was fast eroding to an extent due to government and business relations.
Alastair Campbel, chairman of Bridger Hong Kong, said the tradition of trust was breaking down between people and ruling elites.
Trust, he said, comprises the rule of law, cultural norms and agreement frameworks – while the world now knows Western values and US domination are giving way to a new environment.
China and Russia will play a significant role, Campbel said, adding that neither had a “set menu” for international relations. The challenge is “how to establish trust for the world so that there is less volatility”.
Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, president of Institute of Future Studies for Development, Thailand, saw “constructive engagement” and “flexible engagement” as practised by Asean members as a means to rebuild trust. But other speakers were less confident in Asean’s ability to meet the challenges facing Asia.
Adam Schwarz, CEO of Asia Group Advisors, sounded an optimistic note, saying Asia Pacific was a region largely at peace although political tensions existed, which could not be said of other parts of the world.
He added that while dialogue must be stepped up, there was a lack of trust in regional institutions persisting as people have been unwilling in the past to invest in confidence-building bodies. Such a situation leaves Asia subject to “leadership changes and political whims”.