JAKARTA – President Joko Widodo’s efforts to establish a political dynasty have suffered a blow after his younger son was disqualified from the November regional elections due to his age.
At 29, Mr Kaesang Pangarep falls short of the minimum age of 30 required at the time of candidate registration, which takes place between Aug 27 and 29, with the political scion also drawing the ire of Indonesians in the past week.
Public criticism levelled at Mr Kaesang and his wife Erina Gudono saw a surge as the pair travelled to the US on a private jet to visit the University of Pennsylvania, where she will be pursuing a master’s degree at the School of Social Policy and Practice on a scholarship, while violent street protests erupted at home.
Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, were flooded with insults aimed at the couple, who had shared short videos and photos of their travels, as users expressed their discontent with the trip.
The private jet also quickly became one of the most discussed topics in the country.
On social media platform X, users pointed out that the aircraft – a Gulfstream G650ER – was owned by Garena, the gaming arm of Singapore-based Sea.
However, a check on the US Federal Aviation Administration’s website showed that it is currently owned by a trustee of the Bank of Utah.
Records on aviation website RZJets, which shows the delivery status of aircraft, indicate the jet was initially delivered to Garena on July 15, 2021, before it was bought by the Bank of Utah’s trust on Dec 29, 2022.
Sea has not responded to The Straits Times’ request for more information.
Besides the private jet, Indonesians also took issue with the couple’s ostentatious lifestyle – snippets of which were shared on Ms Erina’s Instagram account.
In one of her posts, she shared a picture of a 400,000 rupiah (S$33.70) lobster roll purchased at Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, California.
This sparked anger among Indonesian social media users, with the cost of the roll being almost a 10th of the minimum wage in Jakarta.
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Publish date : 2024-08-26 01:09:00
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