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.
Mohammad Hatta's daughter protests chants for Hatta Rajasa
The youngest daughter of Mohammad Hatta, one of Indonesia's founding fathers, has publicly taken issue with vice presidential candidate Hatta Rajasa being called "Bung Hatta", as her father was known
Change Size
T
he youngest daughter of Mohammad Hatta, one of Indonesia's founding fathers, has publicly taken issue with vice presidential candidate Hatta Rajasa being called "Bung Hatta", as her father was known.
During the vice presidential candidates debate on Sunday evening, supporters of Hatta Rajasa repeatedly chanted "Bung Hatta".
After the debate, Halida Hatta said, on her Facebook page, that it was inappropriate for the supporters to attach her father's name to the vice presidential candidate.
"Ahahahha'¦Why are people chanting 'Bung Hatta, Bung Hatta' to Hatta Rajasa? How pitiful this country is that people don't have any historical perspective. Hatta Rajasa is someone from our present, he should be called Abang Hatta or Pak Hatta Rajasa instead," she wrote on her Facebook page on Sunday evening.
In Indonesian, "Bung" is an affectionate title used to address colleagues and was popular in the early 1990s. On the other hand, "Abang" usually refers to an older brother or an older male, and "Pak" is often used to refer to a fatherly figure.
Halida's Facebook status had received as many as 78 comments as of Monday morning.
In replying to comments, Halida said there was nothing wrong with calling someone "Bung" and she also acknowledged that Hatta Rajasa himself had once told her that his father or grandfather had named him after the founding father.
However, Halida advised Hatta to use a different nickname to show respect for the historical figures who fought for the country's independence. (fss)
