Indonesia Must Take Stern Action against Insult to Its National Anthem
House Vice Speaker M. Azis Syamsuddin. Pictures: Oji/Man
House Vice Speaker M. Azis Syamsuddin strongly condemned a parody video insulting Indonesia's national anthem Indonesia Raya uploaded by an account claiming to be a Malaysian "MY Asean", urging the Malaysian Embassy in Indonesia to take concrete action against the insult and reveal the perpetrator behind the parody that drew furious reactions from Indonesians and that could possibly hurt bilateral relations between the two countries.
"Malaysia must arrest the perpetrator and announce it publicly," he said in a written statement to Parlementaria on Monday (28/12/2020). "It's an insult to Indonesia's state symbol. The national anthem Indonesia Raya is one of four state symbols along with the Indonesian flag, language, and coat of arms."
The Golkar Party politician also called the Foreign Affairs Ministry and other state institutions, namely the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN) and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), to collaborate and take firm and measurable steps to address this problem.
"The Foreign Affairs Ministry can send a letter of protest to the Malaysian Government, while BSSN and BIN can immediately investigate and get more information on the motives," the Vice Speaker of the Indonesian House for Politics and Security asserted.
It became publicly known that a Youtube account named “MY Asean” posted a parody of Indonesia’s national anthem two weeks ago. The Indonesia Raya lyrics written by WR Supratman were changed to include offensive words against Indonesia and its first President, Soekarno. The parody did not only twist the lyrics, it also changed Indonesia’s emblem from the Garuda, a mythical giant bird, into a chicken, superimposed by pictures of two children urinating on the Indonesian, Red and White, flag.
The original video was uploaded two weeks ago, but upon searching on Sunday (12/27/2020) at 07.00 PM Jakarta Time, it has since been taken down and the account deleted, although some Youtube users have reposted the video. (rnm/sf)
