Some people have noticed that former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems a bit…. concerned about his treatment by the government recently. After his press conference last week in which he railed about the injustice of the government possibly wiretapping his phone conversations and how it would be a serious violation of his rights as a private citizen (the government has categorically denied wiretapping him), SBY took to Twitter last night to complain that his rights were being violated once again by student protesters demonstrating outside of his home in Mega Kuningan.
“Brothers and sisters who care about law and justice, now my home in Kuningan is being descended upon by hundreds of people. They keep shouting.”
The former president went on to say that the law did not allow for protests to take place at private homes and that he had not been informed about the demonstration by the police.
“I ask the president and the police chief — don’t I have the rights to live in peace in my own country?”
“I only ask for justice. As to my personal safety, I leave that to God.”
Police say that the protest, which consisted of about 500 students who brought banners and distributed pamphlets about fighting intolerance and promoting Pancasila, was dispersed by police about 15 minutes after they arrived and went to other parts of Semanggi and Central Jakarta to continue their demonstrations. Police acknowledged that the protest was illegal as they had not been given any notice about it, however no arrests were reported.
The reaction of netizens to SBY’s tweets varied widely, but rather than sympathy one of the first responses was for them to be spammed (either as a joke or as a brilliant marketing maneuver) with references to a Twitter campaign being run by bottled water brand Aqua at the time.
“You reap what you you’ve been sowing, so enjoy it sir, look inside yourself, and do not forget to drink #AdaAqua”
But the biggest meme spawned by the former president last night was #SayaBertanya (I ask) – in reference to his “I ask the president and the police chief — don’t I have the rights to live in peace in my own country?” tweet – which had netizens asking the president and police chief all sorts of important questions.
“I ask the president and the police chief, why is it that my girlfriend say she’s going to sleep but her whatsapp status is still online?”
“I ask the president and the police chief, why is the question “when will you catch up?” only heard at weddings and not funerals?”
“I ask the president and the police chief, is it my fault I was born handsome so my wife does not allow me to go anywhere alone?”
