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Jokowi's jokes on trend
Joker in the pack: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo answers questions from journalists on Wednesday regarding a lawmaker falsely citing his name in a meeting with mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia
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Joker in the pack: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo answers questions from journalists on Wednesday regarding a lawmaker falsely citing his name in a meeting with mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia. Jokowi deferred the matter entirely to the House's ethic council. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma) (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
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span class="caption">Joker in the pack: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo answers questions from journalists on Wednesday regarding a lawmaker falsely citing his name in a meeting with mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia. Jokowi deferred the matter entirely to the House's ethic council. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has shown that he is up with the latest social media trends with a casual joke relating to the alleged usage of his name by a lawmaker discussing mining contracts.
Speaking to members of the Public Relations Association of Indonesia (Perhumas) at the State Palace, Jokowi raised the issue of the rapid spread of information on social media. People using social media, he said, as reported by tribunnews.com, could easily respond to trending topics and give their critiques and even make memes.
"The recent trend was 'mama minta pulsa' [mom wants phone credit], but the current trending topic is 'papa minta saham' [dad wants company shares]," Jokowi quipped, stirring laughter from the audience.
"Mama minta pulsa" is a notorious scam sent via text message, falsely posing as recipients' mothers and, claiming to be caught in bad situation, requesting phone credit.
"Papa minta saham", meanwhile, is a recent meme on social media that scoffs at House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto who recently made headlines, again, after the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported him to the House ethics council. The minister alleged that Setya had invoked Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, without either's approval, when offering a backroom deal to mining giant Freeport.
Sudirman reported that Setya had been accompanied by a local businessman to meet Freeport's chief and had offered certain deals to help the US-owned company secure a contract extension beyond 2021.
Jokowi gave journalists a smile when asked about the meme, and said that he had seen it on social media but wanted nothing to do with the case. "Let the ethics council [settle it]," he said. (rin)(+)
