Makassar bakery customer speaks up over rejected Christmas cake request

Following news on a rejected Christmas cake request by Makassar-based bakery Chocolicious Indonesia, the customer who actually placed the order has responded on the matter.

Arnold Serestyen told tempo.co that the news was wrong that his wife, Lanny Serestyen-Fransiska, had ordered the cake.

"I was the one who ordered the cake. The circulated screenshot of chat messages is actually my chat with Chocolicious," Serestyen said on Sunday.

The Hungarian native also said that the bakery did not reject any order he had placed. "I was not rejected; I'm the one who canceled the order," he said.

He confirmed, however, that the bakery refused to write a Christmas greeting on the cake as he had wanted. "But I didn't question the reason behind it. I reckon it was due to religious matters, and I highly respect that," said Serestyen.

Read also: Indonesian bakery reignites debate over Xmas greeting

He added that he had ordered cakes from the bakery a few times, as he considered their products to be of high quality. "Their cakes are wonderful," he stressed.

He said no issues existed between himself and the bakery: "They have never insulted me nor were ever racist toward me."

Chocolicious Indonesia issued an official statement regarding the matter on Saturday on both its Instagram and Facebook accounts, in which it stated, "[...] We would like to offer our deepest regret. We from Chocolicious Indonesia are not yet able to write merry Christmas [sic] or other similar expressions. This does not mean we do not respect your religion. But with all due respect, this is what we have to practice based on our religious principles."

The bakery's Facebook post has been shared by more than 2,500 people and received more than 5,400 comments. (kes)