Arumi Bachsin Regrets Gibran's Video About Free Lunch Program Cut And Engineered

Spokesperson for vice president number 2, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Arumi Bachsin, regretted the circulation of a video of Gibran's statement that was engineered by irresponsible parties about the free lunch or milk program which later went viral on social media.

Arumi said the video was cut so that Gibran seemed to provide wrong data regarding the number of children in Indonesia which caused misperceptions in the eyes of the community.

"Even though what Mas Gibran means is the number of children from around 70 countries who have received the benefits of a free lunch program or milk," Arumi said in his statement, Friday, December 15.

"The 400 million children's data was obtained from the United Nations World Food Program. The explanation for 400 million children in around 70 countries was cut," he continued.

The wife of Deputy Governor of East Java (Jatim) Emil Elestianto Dardak also hopes that the 2024 presidential election can be used as a means of political education for the community. Therefore, fake news (hoaxes) and black campaigns can be avoided. Arumi also understands that criticism is commonplace in the presidential election campaign, but he does not justify engineering to bring down his political opponents.

"Some say this is called a spin doctor. A person's statement is NARRited and then added a narrative through captions, as if the statement was wrong, even though if it is quoted completely without being cut into pieces, the facts are very different. Then this is viral through social media, even those whose academic background can also be fooled. There are quite a lot of our acquaintances in the world of work who have asked the video, and after receiving an explanation that it was a cut-off video, they immediately understood," said Arumi.

According to Arumi, based on a World Food Program study from the United Nations, the lunch program at schools has been carried out in around 70 countries and has helped 418 million children, including in India which reaches 120 million children, as well as for ASEAN countries that implement similar programs in Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand.

"Monggo can be checked on the website wfp.org, there is a school meal program, and the School Meals Coalition which has been followed by 76 countries as stated in the State of School Feeding 2022 Report report," said Arumi.

Previously, a video clip of Gibran circulated on social media which seemed to explain that the free milk program had been enjoyed by 400 million children. The video of the cut was then added to the narrative as if Gibran's statement did not match the total population of Indonesia.

The video of Gibran was taken during a consolidation event in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, Sunday, December 10. In the full video, Gibran explained that the free milk program was already in 76 countries and was felt by 400 million children. So the context is not only Indonesia.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you must know that this free lunch and free milk program already exists in 76 countries and has been benefited by more than 400 million children, so this is not a far-fetched program," said Gibran in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, Sunday, December 10.

"So in the future, to go to Indonesia, we must also prepare the golden generation, healthy, smart children. That's the key," continued Gibran.