We’re still nearly a year off from the 2019 presidential election in Indonesia, but tensions are already rising with opponents of President Joko Widodo accused of harassing people at Car Free Day (CFD) and using mosques for political purposes. It seems not even ayam goreng (fried chicken) is immune to being politicized.
Recently, photos of a receipt from a fried chicken restaurant in Yogyakarta called Ayam Geprek Eskom went viral on Indonesian social media after a customer spotted that their receipt contained the hashtag #2019GantiPresiden (#2019ReplaceThePresident), which is the slogan of the political movement to defeat Jokowi in next year’s election.
https://twitter.com/AmbarwatiRexy/status/993450563021946880
The #2019GantiPresiden slogan, as well as clothing bearing the hashtag, have become both popular among the president’s critics and controversial following a viral video, taken at CFD in Jakarta on April 29, showing groups of people in t-shirts bearing the hashtag harassing Jokowi supporters.
While some assumed the Ayam Geprek Eskom receipt was a photoshopped hoax, it soon became clear that it was real, as confirmed in an apologetic series of messages from the restaurant’s own Twitter account today in which the restaurant’s management claimed the hashtag was placed there by an employee, acting on their own, who has now been fired.
Kepada pelanggan eskom yg kami hormati, sehubungan dg viralnya struk eskom yg beredar di medsos baru2 ini yang berkaitan dg #gantipresiden
— Ayam Geprek eskom (@AyamEskom) May 8, 2018
“The message #gantipresiden written on the receipt was the act of an unscrupulous employee and we the management never instructed them to write it”
2. Oknum karyawan tersebut sedang dalam proses diberhentikan.
— Ayam Geprek eskom (@AyamEskom) May 8, 2018
“The employee is in the process of being terminated.”
4. Kami memohon maaf yg sebesar2nya atas kejadian ini kepada pelanggan dan pihak yg lainnya ,& berusaha memperbaiki kesalahan ssegra mungkin
— Ayam Geprek eskom (@AyamEskom) May 8, 2018
“We sincerely apologize to our customers and other parties for this incident and will try to fix the mistake as soon as possible.”
The controversy over the #2019GantiPresiden slogan not only cost a fast food worker their job, but also led to some considerable fashion confusion at the last CFD in Jakarta on Sunday, where police instructed participants wearing shirts bearing political messages were given white t-shirts to cover them up, in an effort to keep CFD free of politics and prevent more conflicts.
We can only hope that as political tensions in Indonesia continue to rise ahead of next year’s election, places like CFD and fried chicken restaurants can continue to be a refuge for those of us who need a break for politics and just want to enjoy a nice walk or some delicious ayam goreng in peace.
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