R

acially motivated hatred toward Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has seemingly grown more severe after an ethnic Chinese man was racially taunted and assaulted on a Transjakarta bus.

A social-media storm was created after 24-year-old Andrew Budi Kusuma made a Facebook post detailing an assault on him near the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Senayan, South Jakarta, on Friday.

According to the post, Andrew caught a Transjakarta bus from Kuningan Barat stop, South Jakarta, at around 8.30 p.m.

At around 9 p.m., three or four men in Batik shirts got on the bus from the Semanggi bus stop, also in South Jakarta. The men reportedly proceeded to racially abuse him, calling him “Ahok”, the widely used nickname of the city’s first ethnic Chinese governor.

“I remember them saying to me: ‘choose between slanted eyes or closed eyes’ and ‘you are Ahok, right?’,” Andrew told The Jakarta Post on Monday, adding that he did not answer them but waved his hand to ask them to stay away.

Andrew further said that at the JCC stop, as the bus door opened, the four men hit him and tried to drag him off the bus. Fortunately, some other passengers pulled him back into the bus.

“I don’t know why they did that to me. I have no relation to the governor,” said Andrew, who suspected that the men assaulted him because of his ethnicity.

Andrew suffered injuries to his upper and lower lips, in addition to minor swelling on his head.

The victim reported the incident to the bus company, which told him that it had closed-circuit television footage of the incident.

However, to obtain the footage, Andrew has to bring a recommendation letter from the police. Hence, he is set to report the assault to the Jakarta Police on Tuesday.

“I thought I wouldn’t have any ongoing mental trauma about taking public transportation. However, this morning my hands were trembling. Maybe it was an unconscious bodily response,” Andrew added.

PT Transjakarta, however, has yet to confirm the incident as its executive board has not received the assault report.

“We cannot confirm the issue as we have not received the report. We have to ask the Transjakarta operational director first,” said PT Transjakarta spokesman Prasetyo Budi on Monday.

Similarly, the Jakarta Police said they had not received a report about the incident.

“We can only process the case after the victim reports it to us,” he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the police would first conduct a health examination of the victim if he reported the incident.

Meanwhile, Ahok said that he had knowledge of the incident from media reports. He suggested that Andrew, and anyone who had experienced anything similar, file a police report.

Furthermore, he added, it was unlikely the assault was an indication of rising hatred toward him. Ahok’s frank manner of speech and controversial policies, such as the eviction of poor residents, has led to vocal backlash from some sections of the population.

Last week, East Jakarta Mayor Bambang Musyawardana warned the governor not to attend the officiation of the integrated child-friendly public space (RPTRA) park in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, due to opposition from some residents.

Ahok eventually came to the event, but he was accompanied by hundreds of Jakarta Police and Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) personnel, who guarded the surrounding area.

However, there was no indication of objections to Ahok’s presence during the event. (adt)