Police barred from penis enlargement

(Reuters) - Forget about getting a job as a police officer in Indonesia's Papua if you have had your penis enlarged. You won't get it, according to local media reports citing the Papua police chief.

An applicant "will be asked whether or not his vital organ has been enlarged," said Papua police chief Bekto Suprapto, quoted on local website Kompas.com.

"If he has, he will be considered unfit to join the police or the military."

The ban was applied since the unnatural size causes "hindrance during training," said police spokesman Zainuri Lubis in Jakarta, quoted by news portal Detik.com.

Indonesia's remote easternmost province is home to Papuan tribes, many of whom are known for wearing penis gourds.

A low-level separatist insurgency has waged in the resources-rich part of Indonesia for decades and there is a heavy police and military presence there.

Papuans use a local technique to achieve the enlargement, according to a sexologist quoted by local newspaper Jakarta Globe, wrapping the penis with leaves from the "gatal-gatal" (itchy) tree so that it swells up "like it has been stung by a bee," the expert said.

Story quoted from here.

This story really caught my attention today because the heading in large font was - Police barred from penis enlargement.

Won't a bold headline phrased like that catch your attention as well? Well, my attention was caught alright!

I have watched programs on National Geographic featuring this particular tribe from Papua New Guinea wearing the gourds over their penises. Don't ask me why they do that because I never did find out from the programs I watched. Er, maybe I wasn't paying attention to what the narrator was saying because I was too fascinated and repulsed at the same time from the sight of gourds over penises!

The story about the penis enlargement did make me wonder though. After the effect of the gatal-gatal leaves dissipates, do they rub the leaves again to maintain the size?

Don't these men scratch themselves since the leaves do make them feel itchy? Or is the scratching satisfied, er, er ..... you know what I mean, lah!

I guess these men who had their penis enlarged better look for other jobs since the police force find their package a hindrance!

Ok, that's my odd story for the day!