Hashtag #YangGajiKamuSiapa worlwide trending topic pic.twitter.com/MWHty0SPM7

#YangGajiKamuSiapa trending on indonesia pic.twitter.com/e71LCTo8qU

— Diennan Bragha (@Diennanbraghaa1) February 1, 2019

Based on an edited 44-second video circulated on Twitter, Rudiantara could be heard asking one of the ministry's employees to choose between two sticker designs for the 2019 presidential election during the "Kominfo Next" event held at the basketball court in the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Central Jakarta on Thursday. 

Ketika Menkominfo bertanya#YangGajiKamuSiapa

Untung ibu nya gak jawab: bukannya dari utang pak? pic.twitter.com/BXe9ujNDdr

— Info Padang (@InfoPadang_) January 31, 2019

"Ibu, why did you choose this [sticker]?" asked the minister on stage while lending her the microphone he was using.

"Bismillahirrohmanirrohim [in God's name]. Perhaps based on my faith, Pak; [my] faith in the vision and mission delivered by [presidential candidates] number 2."

"Thank you, thank you," Rudiantara said in what appeared to be an immediate response to the answer, although it was actually not since two employees could be seen coming down the stage while in the early part of the video the "Ibu" employee was the only one standing on stage with the minister.

Rudiantara was then shown to say: "Bu, Bu, who's paying your salary now? The government or [someone else]? Not [the one you] have faith in? That's all, thank you."

As the video went viral, many netizens criticized the minister for uttering the comment. Only a few poked fun at the incident on Twitter.

"ASN said: 'I serve the realm not the kings or rulers'," tweeted @LaurentiusSimb4 in a Game of Thrones reference.

ASN said: "I serve the Realm not the kings or rulers" (Game of Thrones reference). #YangGajiKamuSiapa

— Laurentius Simbolon (@LaurentiusSimb4) February 1, 2019

Meanwhile @mememekanlirik tweeted: "The real question is not #YangGajiKamuSiapa, but #GajiKamuBerapa [How much is your salary?]."

the real question is not #YangGajiKamuSiapa, but #GajiKamuBerapa pic.twitter.com/tO6yDB3yJc

— qasimin (@mememekanlirik) February 1, 2019

"Oh, just found out the background story of #YangGajiKamuSiapa lmao [laugh my ass off]. To be fair, the lady shouldn't have answered it that way, even if she was joking, but I think the minister shouldn't go as far as say #YangGajiKamuSiapa," posted @seasaltmatcha.

Oh, just found out the background story of #YangGajiKamuSiapa lmao. To be fair the lady shouldn't answer it that way, even if she was joking. BUT, I think the minister shouldn't go as far as saying #YangGajiKamuSiapa

— An (@seasaltmatcha) February 1, 2019

Watched in full the video, shared by @pandeggg, is more than five hours long and Rudiantara could be seen asking the people in the basketball court to choose between the two stickers prior to inviting two female employees to come on stage. 

#YangGajiKamuSiapa full videonya https://t.co/GTk43J3IGf

— Pandeg (@pandeggg) January 31, 2019

"It's not an easy thing [to choose]. This is entirely unrelated to the upcoming presidential election," he said, after the employees were divided over the choice. "Don't make a connection [between this] and the presidential election. If you do, I will use my authority to decide, so it's unrelated with the presidential election."

Read also: 'We need greater education on this': Viral photo shows Jakarta's Herculean clean-up task

"Where is the Ibu who had chosen number 2? Come here," he then said, repeatedly urging the employee to come to the stage. "You chose number 2 or 1? Come here. Please nobody record this as it can become viral as a hoax."

Then the aforementioned dialogue in which the ibu shared her faith regarding the number 2 presidential candidate's vision and mission started. "I just felt sure," she added.

Rudiantara immediately replied, "Bu, you cannot link this with the presidential election. I simply asked, which one did you choose?"

"Oh, [you mean] the picture?" the employee asked. "Number 2, Sir, since as good citizens we make sure of the location [of the election], what will happen during the election, what app to use."

The minister then responded: "Ibu, you're not being honest. I'm sorry, since [both] messages are the same. The only difference is color and design."

"I already said that we cannot link this with the presidential election. You said you have faith in number 2. It has nothing to do with that. I simply asked: what's the difference, since the difference is in color and design? I asked what's your reason?" he said.

He then called a second employee to the stage, another woman who immediately chose design number 1 because of its "brighter color."

"This is a more clear [answer], since we're talking about color and design, not faith. I can accept the reason for [choosing] number 1, but not for the reason for choosing number 2," said Rudiantara.

Then, as shown in the short version of the video, he said thank you while the two employees left the stage. 

After that, Rudiantara uttered the #YangGajiKamuSiapa comment, followed by: "My dear friends, it has been conveyed that as the Kominfo [Communications and Information Ministry] we should not get carried away with the presidential election. What we have to do is unite these differences. Please spread the word of what I told you, that we have options over which rights are regulated. As the Kominfo, we have to be able to unite these differences of opinion and combat the ones who create these differences in a form of hoaxes, fake news, etc."

After the hashtag went viral, the head of an agency at the ministry, Ferdinandus Setu, issued a statement saying the minister was merely asserting that the state civil apparatus (ASN) must stay neutral. 

"The communications and information minister only asserted that the ASN was paid by the state hence they have to take a neutral position, at least in front of the public," read the statement on Friday as quoted by tempo.co. (kes) 

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