Real Buddhists Protest Buddha Bar

Indonesian Buddhists yesterday protested the opening in Jakarta of the latest in a popular chain of Buddha Bars established by a Parisian restaurant-lounge enterprise. The bar, which features a giant Buddha, is the first to be built in Southeast Asia. "It's impossible to put the exalted name" of Buddha "with the word 'bar.' That is defamation of religion," said one protester. A staff member said the bar would remain "open as usual."
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