It’s perfectly acceptable to have different political preferences, but no one should ever suffer for it.
Recently, a 50-year-old woman named Alfiyah went to City Hall to plead for the administration’s help in obtaining her son’s school certificate. In a video that has gone viral online, Alfiyah claimed that the school withheld her son’s certificate because of her preference in the Jakarta gubernatorial election.
Gegara Nyoblos Ahok, ijazah anaknya ndak dikasih pihak sekolah, jahat banget yah, miris pic.twitter.com/j4EXxRrm7D
— Dede Budhyarto (@kangdede78) March 3, 2017
According to Alfiyah, her son’s middle school certificate has been withheld for the past four years as she owes money to the school. But recently, she went to the school anyway to ask for the certificate as it is a requirement for her son to continue his studies.
But once there, Alfiyah said she was asked by school administrators about her choice in the gubernatorial election. When she said her choice is incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, the school administrators simply rejected her request to have the certificate.
Alfiyah eventually received assistance from Relawan Ahok-Djarot, a volunteer group that supports Ahok and running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat’s election campaign.
“One’s choice is protected by the law, so that any candidate can be chosen by the voter without having to be pressured or intimidated,” said Relawan Ahok-Djarot member Suhadi, as quoted by Tribun today.
After receiving a visit from Relawan Ahok-Djarot members, the school’s current principal admitted that her predecessor has the certificate, though it’s not known if anyone did indeed withhold it in the first place because of Alfiyah’s political preference.
Relawan Ahok-Djarot has agreed to pay the Rp 5 million in administrative fees Alfiyah owed to the school, after which she will receive her son’s certificate.
Alfiyah’s story led to much criticism of the public school system. However, some netizens speculated that she could have deliberately politicized the issue by making up the whole story about school administrators withholding her son’s certificate because she chose Ahok. After all, regardless of whether this actually happened or not, the fact remains that she owed the school money, which could be the only reason why they withheld the certificate.
