Rising Indonesian singer Nadin Amizah opened the floodgates to a debate on classism in Indonesia after she was accused of insensitively comparing the rich and the poor in one of the country’s most popular podcasts.
The 20-year-old was featured as a guest in The Joe Rogan Experience magician-turned-host Deddy Corbuzier’s podcast, Close The Door. Though the video was published last week, this statement in particular only went hugely viral yesterday.
“Jadilah orang kaya, karena kalau kamu kaya kamu akan lebih mudah jadi orang baik. Dan saat kita miskin, rasa benci kita pada dunia itu sudah terlalu besar sampai kita gak punya waktu untuk baik sama orang lain lagi.” ~ Nadin Amizah
pic.twitter.com/cyldUnnqVU— Tontonan Rakyat Jelata (@MenteriHiburan) January 18, 2021
“Be a rich person, because when you’re rich it will be easier for you to be a good person. And when we’re poor, our hatred for the world will be so big that we don’t have the time to be kind to others anymore,” Nadin told Deddy, explaining that this was a piece of advice her mother once gave her.
Nadin was unsurprisingly hounded online over the statement, which netizens said was tone-deaf and demonized the poor. Nadin’s name topped Indonesia’s trending topic on Twitter for hours earlier this afternoon, and largely for all the wrong reasons.
Nadin Amizah during the podcast: pic.twitter.com/Gq4iqTwLof
— (@Lukas_pdf) January 18, 2021
Nadin Amizah sweetie I really love your music but you need a solid PR team
— warga sipil (@windaul) January 19, 2021
nadin amizah pic.twitter.com/HWU8gf168b
— (@faizaufi) January 18, 2021
Her opinion (L), her songs (R)
“Saying that those who live in poverty are too busy to hate their own life to be kind is straight up classist and rude, Miss. Many people don’t have money and are good while still thinking about others. You always romanticize your situation but your mindset is mean,” the user above wrote to Nadin.
Nadin has addressed the matter in a number of tweets as well as responding directly to netizens who called her out, including retweeting the user above.
with the earnings i have, i can help better than when i don’t have money and is on a survival mode. i am speaking from my own experience and personal opinion. my opinion is very biased and narrow, i can see. so again, thank you for reaching out to me.
— ☁️ (@rahasiabulan) January 18, 2021
2. aku diajarkan untuk menjadi kaya agar lebih mudah bersedekah TIDAK SAMA dengan aku bilang orang yg berpenghasilan kecil adalah orang yg pelit.
— ☁️ (@rahasiabulan) January 18, 2021
“Things we can understand: I was taught to be rich so it can be easier for me to give to charity IS NOT THE SAME as me saying all rich people love giving charity; NOT THE SAME as me saying that people with low income are stingy; NOT THE SAME as me looking down on people who earn less AT ALL,” she wrote in a thread.
Nadin’s defenders say the statement was taken out of context of the hour-long podcast episode, which, on the whole, did not paint her in a classist light.
Nadin began her career at the young age of 17, when she was featured in a song titled All Good by DJ Dipha Barus in 2017. Known for her knack for poetry in her song titles and lyrics, Nadin has released singles of her own since and collaborated with indie musicians such as Sal Priadi and Kunto Aji. On her birthday last year, Nadin released her first album, aptly titled Selamat Ulang Tahun (Happy Birthday).
