A conservative Muslim government minister, Tifatul Sembiring, which is usually cautious about shaking hands with females not related to him, recently caused a controversy during Obama's visit to Indonesia. It was reported that the Indonesian minister whom flaunted his conservatism and says he avoids contact with women who are not related to him, has shook hand with first lady Michelle Obama.
The minister tried to defend himself by saying that Michelle Obama was the one who initiated the handshake, but it was shown otherwise. I personally find that the minister does not need to lie to defend himself as the culture of the western world is different and they have a different way of greeting each other. In this case, it was a handshake. As it is a common practice for the westerners to use handshake to greet each other, it would be rude if Sembiring did not do that. However, it would be different if the other party was from another country because different country have different ways of greeting and their different beliefs.
Therefore, Sembiring does not need to deny the fact that he initiated a handshake with Michelle Obama. It was only right for him to initiate a handshake to Michelle Obama to acknowledge her presence in the western way.
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