There are certainly perks to being a social media influencer, like being invited to try public facilities like the long-awaited Jakarta MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) railway system before the general public. Aqsa Aswar, a jetski athlete and gold medalist at the 2018 Asian Games, was one of those invited, but what he did overstepped the boundaries of train etiquette.
On Monday, Aqsa, along with fellow influencers Nazla Alifa, Ranggaz Laksmana, and actress Marsha Aruan, was invited by the Jakarta government to try out the brand-new MRT, which is scheduled for commercial operations in March. While all of them posed for pictures on the brand-new train, Aqsa was singled out by scornful netizens after being photographed stepping on the carriage’s seats while holding on to the handrails.
Dear influencer kekinian
kekurangan konten foto atau gimana? belum juga serahterima sudah di injak. Bad influencer, shame on you. pic.twitter.com/jwoxnzuXGJ
— Irfan ☃ (@ilmiirfan) January 28, 2019
Dear trendy so-called influencers, are you guys running out of photo content or what? They haven’t done the handover (of the trains) but you already stepped on [the train seats]. Bad influencer, shame on you.
The pictures have since been taken down from Instagram and Aqsa wrote an apology on his Instagram story yesterday.
Sudah cukup, dia sudah minta maaf. Better good manners than good looks. Lebih baik bertanya daripada sesat dijalan pic.twitter.com/ul3lN3XrF0
— Irfan ☃ (@ilmiirfan) January 29, 2019
“I apologize for causing the situation in the photo I took it during the MRT visit. I’d like to explain that there were miscommunications. I apologize once again if what I did was inappropriate, and I promise it will not happen again,” Aqsa wrote, not explaining what the “miscommunications” he alluded to actually were.
PT MRT Jakarta Corporate Secretary Division Head Muhamad Kamaludin said his team had briefed the influencers on MRT etiquette before boarding. He said Aqsa and others were in the sixth and last car of the train, while the MRT staff were in the third, so they weren’t able to monitor the influencers.
“Our staff saw them [taking the pictures], and warned them. We also reminded the influencers not to post their pictures, but it turned out they still posted them. Then, through social media, we asked the influencers to apologize,” Kamaludin said, as quoted by Kompas.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said he was aware of the controversy, but hoped it could at least raise awareness about train-riding etiquette.
“[If they] stepped on the [MRT] chairs, it was indeed wrong. But as far as I know they’ve apologized already, and this could serve as an important lesson,” Anies said today, as quoted by Detik.
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