An innocent traditional kue (snack or dessert) has become the subject of a fresh political and religious controversy in Indonesia.
The controversy reached epic dessert proportions yesterday morning, when a photo of a bowl of kue klepon, labeled “kue klepon is not Islamic” went viral online. In case you’re not familiar with jajanan pasar (meaning “market munchies,” a broad term for traditional snacks), klepons are green-colored rice cake balls filled with liquid palm sugar and coated with grated coconut. It’s a popular snack across Southeast Asia, though it may have originated from Java.
“Let’s leave snacks that are not Islamic and buy Islamic snacks; various types of dates are available in our sharia store,” the text on the image reads.
A logo that reads “Abu Ikhwan Aziz” is visible on the lower right corner of the photo, suggesting that it’s the name of the store that published the image in the first place.
As expected, many netizens questioned the claim — as klepon does not contain ingredients that are haram, or forbidden for consumption by Muslims — while others saw this as an opportunity to make fitting memes.
Klepon e pun moco syahadat lur alhamdulillah pic.twitter.com/9GWR9WPg8i
— Mbud (@jawafess) July 21, 2020
“The klepons have recited shahada guys, alhamdulillah (praise God),” the tweet above reads, joking that the snack is now officially an Islamic snack after reciting the Islamic creed, which is a requirement for a person to become a Muslim.
Hoax debunker Turn Back Hoax found that a Facebook account, which appears as pro-government, was one of the first users who shared the image on Monday evening. The Facebook post they mentioned, however, has been taken down by the original user.
https://www.facebook.com/TurnBackHoax/posts/3330772426975264
“Based on our tracking, this claim doesn’t have a strong foundation and appears to be a claim that was made to trigger chaos on social media,” the post reads.
Turn Back Hoax also mentioned that many netizens have attempted to find accounts related to Abu Ikhwan Aziz to no avail.
Meanwhile, the original klepon photo, without the un-Islamic assertion, actually belongs to Indonesian artist Dita W. Ichwandardi AKA Ditut. In a series of tweets yesterday, Ditut said that the photo was taken during her old days as a food blogger and photographer back in 2008, which was then uploaded to a Flickr account shared with her husband, animator Wahyu Ichwandardi AKA Pinot.
Itu foto th 2008 waktu msh aktif jadi food photographer dan food blogger https://t.co/9LlbuSScpG
— Dita W.Ichwandardi (@ditut) July 21, 2020
Ismail Fahmi, founder of social media analytical platform Drone Emprit, shared his findings regarding the klepon saga on a Twitter thread yesterday. According to Ismail, the image was first circulated on Instagram and Twitter by pro-government accounts yesterday morning, seemingly to mock conservative Muslims.
Salah satu yang cukup awal di IG yang ditangkap DE adalah dari akun @kerjabersama_2periode. Foto yang sama dengan yang di Facebook tsb di beri caption “Kadrun klo dibiarin makin ngelunjak, ….” pic.twitter.com/OtlcJGedpv
— Ismail Fahmi (@ismailfahmi) July 21, 2020
Ismail pointed out that the Facebook posts had a striking commonality — they referred to the supposed maker of the image as “kadrun,” which is a portmanteau of “kadal gurun (desert lizard)” — a derogatory term used to describe conservative Muslims in the country.
The term was one of several slurs to gain prominence in the lead up to last year’s presidential election, which was sadly marred by identity politics.
Ismail concluded his thread by alluding that there’s still a strong residual sentiment from the presidential election by supporters of the incumbent administration and their conservative opposition.
At any rate, if you’re a Muslim, there is absolutely no need to worry about eating klepon as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the highest clerical body in the nation, have reiterated that the humble snack is permissible for consumption in response to the controversy.
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