TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Restaurant apologizes over offensive sign about refugees
A restaurant in Jakarta has triggered online anger over an offensive sign about refugees.
Change Size
Racist sign at YaUdah Bistro. (Felix Dass' Facebook page/-)
Y
aUdah Bistro, a restaurant famous for its German food, had put up a sign to forbid its customers from bringing in food or drink from outside.
What made it controversial was a line that said: "We are not A Refugee Centre or Picnic Area". Added below it was a paragraph about boat refugees coming from Iran, Iraq, Somalia or Bangladesh not being allowed to enter the restaurant, as it was a business that sells food to its customers to make a profit.
The sign was uploaded to Facebook by Felix Dass, who claimed he was a fond customer of the restaurant on May 10.
It had gone viral since and had triggered harsh responses from people using Twitter.
Between @YaUdahBistro's racist sign and Filipinos condoning hate speech by its new leader, my hope for humanity is srsly dimming
— Vanesha M (@vaneshas) May 10, 2016
So, @YaUdahBistro fancying itself as Jakarta's historical expat eatery. Just not for ALL expats🖕🏼 RT @BeirutiBrit: pic.twitter.com/ZUcjVEO8aK
— Lynda Ibrahim (@lyndaibrahim) May 11, 2016
Many online users blamed the restaurant for being racist despite the fact that YaUdah was their favorite restaurant.
On his Facebook page, Felix said his intention in uploading the picture was to put pressure on the restaurant to take down the sign, but his action elicited harsh responses from other users, prompting him to erase the post.
The sign was taken down on May 11. The restaurant management told The Jakarta Post via an email that it had been intended as a joke.
“One of the creative staff did it and think it was only a joke,” said Rakhmat Ichsan, on behalf of YaUdah Bistro.
“Though we did not have any bad intentions, a bad joke is a bad joke. And for that, we simply learned and apologize.”
Some Twitter users also uploaded replies from the management saying that the designer had been fired.
@hasief @deelestari @felixdass @YaUdahBistro well, this is the update. Thank you Yaudah Bistro, semoga sukses selalu pic.twitter.com/uRTBAOSZrO
— Anggi Agistaria (@angiagis) May 11, 2016
Rakhmat Ichsan also thanked people for pointing out the restaurant's mistakes.
“For the people who complained about the poster, they are a part of conscious citizen whose function is very important for all society: warning, reminding and giving advice to each other, including to warn us and give us suggestions,” he said.
“Without those, we could not correct what was wrong. We thank them for doing so.”
In his email, Rakhmat also made a promise to replace the sign with a simpler one. "We removed the poster and we will replace it with much more simple No Outside Food sign."
Twitter users had also agreed to put the incident behind them. (asw)
Deleted my original @YaUdahBistro tweet. It's served its purpose and doesn't need any latecomers adding their two cents. Time to move on.
— Hasief Ardiasyah (@hasief) May 11, 2016
.@YaUdahBistro has their own explanation. Spread the words. https://t.co/CMGxHtqI1j
— Felix Dass (@felixdass) May 11, 2016
