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.
Red-cross logo doesn’t promote Christianity: Kalla
Change Size
Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xie Feng (left) and Indonesian Red Cross deputy chairman Ginandjar Kartasasmita shake hands on Dec. 13 during the handover ceremony of a $100,000 donation from the Chinese Red Cross Society to support disaster relief and reconstruction efforts in Aceh following a recent 6.5-magnitude earthquake that claimed more than 100 lives. (JP/Bimo Raharjo)
V
ice President Jusuf Kalla told lawmakers on Wednesday that the internationally recognized logo of the international Red Cross was not a Christian symbol and dismissed concerns that using the logo for the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) promoted Christianity.
“I know that there have been questions regarding the logo. The Red Cross logo is like the mathematical ‘plus’ sign because it is symmetrical, unlike the Christian cross,” Kalla, in his capacity as PMI chairman, said during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission IX on health and social affairs.
“You must know that the ‘plus’ sign was formulated by Muslim mathematician Ibn Musa Al Khawarizmi and there is therefore no need to worry,” Kalla assured.
Wednesday’s hearing was held to discuss a PMI bill, including to determine if the PMI should change its logo. The deliberation has been halted for 10 years due to several issues, one of them being the humanitarian organization's cross logo.
Saleh Daulay from the National Mandate Party (PAN) asked Kalla to elaborate on the reasons for maintaining the logo. “Because a logo comes with values,” he said. (wit)
