A dangdut song by a young singer named Nova Rizqi Romadhon titled “Lelaki Kardus” (“Cardboard Man”) has recently gone viral on Indonesian social media and stirred up a great deal of controversy due to it’s shocking and profane lyrics, condemning polygamy and domestic violence, sung by innocent looking children.
The song begins with the singer denouncing her father who abandoned her family and mother to marry another woman.
“My father married again / I have been abandoned / I am heartbroken” the first verse begins, followed by the singer saying that her mother asked for a divorce but was hit by her husband instead.
Following the verse is a chorus in which numerous children sing together in condemning the father using a variety of profane epithets such as “Lelaki mencret” (piece of shit) and “Lelaki bangsat” (bastard) and well as the titular “Lelaki kardus” which means something like “a man who is as useless/worthless as cardboard”.
While some approved of way the song’s condemned polygamy and domestic violence, many took to Twitter to condemn the song for being inappropriate for children:
“This song sung by a small child could ruin the country’s children.”
The government is also apparently quite concerned about the song too, so much so that the Ministry of Communications has said that it will send a request to Google that the song be removed from it’s streaming site Youtube.
“The Communications Ministry will send a letter to YouTube asking them to remove the video,” ministry spokesperson Ismail Cawidu told Kompas today via SMS.
The Indonesian Child Protection Institution (LPA Indonesia) as well as the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) also called on the public not to distribute the on social media.
“LPA Indonesia urges people to build a common perception that this video is truly not child friendly,” wrote Reza Indragiri Amriel, the head of children’s rights at LPA Indonesia.
However, Nurul, the mother of Nova, said she was angry that people would condemn her daughter for singing the song, saying her daughter had the right to sing any song she wanted.
“So what? Just let her sing the song. It’s inspired by a true story,” Nurul told Detik yesterday.
