Sun-shy Indonesians are suddenly soaking up the rays

FARAH REYNALDI loathes the sun. Yet for the past month, the 19-year-old law student has been soaking up the rays several mornings a week. At the behest of her father, she takes off her hijab, puts on a T-shirt and shorts, and sweats on the balcony for about half an hour. She is not alone. Over the past month or two, Indonesians have begun sunbathing en masse. Bare-chested soldiers and police officers prostrate themselves before the sun every morning. Residents of a slum abutting a metro line in Jakarta, the capital, drape themselves across the train tracks. So many people have suddenly started basking in the tropical glare that the government has begun extolling sun cream and warning about the risks of skin cancer.

Indonesian culture normally prizes pale skin, which is regarded as beautiful, says L. Ayu Saraswati, the author of “Putih” (White), a book about Indonesian attitudes to skin colour. Many Indonesian women use skin-whitening products. Indonesia is home to the world’s largest population of Muslims; the pious among them do not feel comfortable baring much skin. Most Indonesians would never dream of tanning. Yet they are willing to risk a darker shade now because they believe sunlight helps to fend off covid-19. 

There are two reasons for this belief, one more scientific than the other. Sunlight does...