If you’ve been to Mega Kuningan lately, you’ve probably seen the billboard pictured above. It’s an HIV/AIDS awareness ad featuring the photo of our very own Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
The ad sensibly encourages those who have multiple sexual partners, have had a history of STIs, and have used non-sterile needles to seek regular sexual consultation. The message was supposedly quoted off Ahok himself.
Except Ahok never approved of the message. Well, one particular aspect of it at least.
Ahok was peeved when he found out about the ad as he explicitly gave instructions not put his photo on it.
“It’s disgraceful. I gave instructions time and time again not to use my photo,” Ahok said, as quoted by Okezone today.
Ahok also suspects that somebody deliberately used his photo in the ad to rile him up. But thankfully his sense of humor wasn’t completely engulfed by rage.
“I said before that if they want to use a photo of me, use a cool one. That one’s ugly, it’s an old photo too,” he said.
Ahok then clarified that it’s just the photo that upset him and not the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign itself, as he hates having his photo appear on any ad. Ahok actually wants the government to take a more proactive approach to HIV/AIDS prevention, as he once mentioned that he’d like to make HIV tests compulsory for Jakartans.
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