Viral: Indonesian high school students congratulated by Ministry of Education for making international debate competition, relentlessly trolled for ‘showing too much cleavage’

This picture of the debate team representing Indonesia at the World Schools Debating Championship 2017 held in Denpasar, Bali, has sparked a major debate amongst netizens. Photo: Ministry of Education and Culture
This picture of the debate team representing Indonesia at the World Schools Debating Championship 2017 held in Denpasar, Bali, has sparked a major debate amongst netizens. Photo: Ministry of Education and Culture

A post from the Ministry of Education, congratulating four Indonesian students on making a big international debate competition currently being held in Bali, was taken over by netizens debating the students’ “visible cleavage”.

Instead of appreciating four of Indonesia’s best and brightest students for their achievements in representing the country at the World Debate Championship of 2017 currently being held in Denpasar, internet trolls took over the congratulatory Facebook post, showing their disapproval over “cleavage-revealing tops” worn by the two female debate team members. 

Since shared to Facebook on Friday, the post has gotten nearly 10,000 reactions and a couple hundred comments, which turn out to be amazingly awful, especially considering that these students are still in high school and the tops aren’t exactly Playboy material. In fact, they’re pretty damn modest.

“You wanna debate or be a bar dancer?” wondered one netizen.

Another critically noted: “The clothes worn by smart Indonesian students shows the breasts protruding forward.”

As opposed to protruding backwards?

“You are arguing on behalf of the country, while your clothes are worth debating.”

“I think Indonesia’s winners are in this order: 1, 2, 3, 4,” wrote one commenter, apparently ranking the four competitors from left to right—with the girls in the last two spots.

But we have to say, at least for every negative comment, there seems to be a positive comment, urging netizens to “stop objectifying women” and wishing the students good luck with the rest of the competition.

“The nation’s brain capacity can be measured only by looking at the humorous comments here,” joked one netizen.

“Ignore the comments that are off topic. Let’s support these four Indonesian students to succeed at WSDC.”

“This is an article about the participation of Indonesian youth in an international debate championship. But what you commented first about was the clothing of participants who are in fact high school students (possibly underaged)? Your comment actually has nothing to do with the character of the students, but instead expresses what your brain is like.”

And one of the best comebacks, to the guy asking the students if they wanted to be bar dancers: “Bro, have you ever even been to a bar? Don’t pretend. Also, why is it your job to look at the cleavage of high school students? Pay attention to your wife’s chest (if you have one).”

Well said.



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