Crowded With Parodi Indonesia Raya, Deputy Speaker Of The DPR: Neighbors Must Respect Each Other

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the DPR, Azis Syamsudin, criticized the humiliation and harassment of the song Indonesia Raya on the My Asean YouTube account claiming to be from Malaysia. Azis urged the Malaysian Embassy to Indonesia to take concrete steps, including exposing the uploaders of the parody video.

This, he said, needed to be investigated because it made Indonesians angry and could have bad effects on bilateral relations between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Malaysia must be able to arrest the perpetrators and announce it officially. This is an insult to the symbol of the Indonesian nation state. The national anthem of Indonesia Raya is one of the four symbols of the country besides the flag, language and symbol of the state," Azis said in a written statement to reporters on Monday, December 28th.

In addition, Azis asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of related state institutions such as the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to take firm and measured steps against this travesty. He also reminded that as a neighbor, Malaysia must respect neighboring countries, including Indonesia.

"The Foreign Ministry must firmly convey diplomatic notes, send letters of protest to the Malaysian government and BSSN and BIN can immediately work to investigate and seek information on these motives. Neighbors need to respect each other," he said.

Previously reported, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) Kuala Lumpur has coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked the Malaysian Police (PDRM) to investigate the perpetrators of making videos of parody Indonesia Raya.

"We have communicated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and indeed the PDRM team will carry out an investigation," said the Coordinator of the Social and Cultural Affairs of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Yoshi Iskandar when contacted in Kuala Lumpur, reported by Antara, Monday, December 28.

Yoshi said that based on his monitoring the video had also been taken down from YouTube.

"If you look at the video, it has also been taken down or taken down. That is from the channel side. But maybe it still exists because it is circulating in the media," he said.

After the video was made, his party had coordinated fast movement.

"As soon as the video went up, we immediately coordinated with the PDRM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here. From there a statement came out from the Malaysian Embassy. That was the result of our coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to reduce the situation we see now because it is busy in the media and there are many comments," he said.

For information, the MY Asean Youtube account has uploaded a parody of the Indonesia Raya national anthem. The video depicts the background of the Red and White flag accompanied by the Garuda Pancasila emblem.

This video is accompanied by the singing of someone who changed the arrangement of the song Indonesia Raya with lyrics connoting harassment of Indonesian figures.

The video is about one minute long and was posted about two weeks ago. However, currently Youtube has taken a takedown on this video. When traced, the MY Asean account with the Malaysian flag logo also no longer appears on Youtube.