Ex-governor’s family to sue Grand Indonesia

The family of former Jakarta governor Hendrik “Henk” Hermanus Joel Ngantung say they will sue the owners of the Grand Indonesia shopping mall for intellectual property rights violation.

Henk’s widow, Hetty Evelyne Ngantung Mamesah, said Wednesday the mall’s depiction of the Welcome Statue — from the nearby Hotel Indonesia traffic circle — in its logo was an exact copy of her husband’s hand-drawn sketch.

“Not many people know the statue made by Edhi Sunarso was based on my husband’s sketch,” Hetty said.

She added she noticed the similarity when visiting the mall in mid-2009. She said she had since asked the mall’s operator, PT Grand Indonesia, to get her family’s permission to keep using the logo.
“The company has never acknowledged that they copied Henk’s sketch,” Hetty said.

She added her husband, a prolific artist during his time, had been commissioned by president Sukarno in 1957 to come up with an iconic symbol for Jakarta.

“Henk always sketched out his ideas by hand, and one of these drawings was later used as the basis for the Welcome Statue,” she said.

Henk governed the capital only briefly, from 1964 to 1965.

Family lawyer Andy Nababan said he had sent a writ to the Grand Indonesia management in May 2009 to warn them over their use of the sketch in the logo.

Grand Indonesia government and corporate affairs head Koentjoro Noerwibowo said the company had not breached anyone’s intellectual property rights.

“The design for the logo was inspired solely by the statue,” he said.

He added the company had registered its design with the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights back in 2006.

Henk’s family said they were only seeking acknowledgement for the former governor.

Andy said sculptor Edhi Sunarso had signed a letter recognizing the hand drawing as Henk’s.