Hanura: The Large Number Of Foreign Products In Online Shops Makes Jokowi Upset

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Hanura Party Advisory Board, Inas Nasrullah Zubir, said President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) invitation to hate foreign products had good intentions. Inas Nasrullah Zubir asked the public not to continue polemic with this statement.

He said President Jokowi made the invitation when he opened the 2021 National Working Meeting (Rakernas) of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) at the State Palace, Jakarta, Thursday, March 4, 2021. Inas said that there was nothing wrong with Jokowi's statement in front of the Ministry of Trade's ranks.

"He invited us to love and be proud of domestic products, which was then followed by saying `hate imported products' because the context at that time was a marketplace," said Inas, as quoted from Antara, Monday, March 8.

Inas continued Jokowi's statement in response to a marketplace that offered more imported products than Indonesian MSME products. In fact, said Inas, Indonesian native platforms offer more imported goods.

"Is Mr. Jokowi disappointed? It is certain. As President, he has been paying a lot of attention to MSMEs and SMIs," said Inas.

Unfortunately, people prefer to buy imported goods in the marketplace. So that according to him it made the president upset and had to seriously invite the public to switch to buying MSME products with anti-imported goods propaganda in the marketplace.

According to Inas, the choice of the word hate is an expression of Jokowi's disappointment with the marketplace. The message and spirit of Jokowi's statement is very clear about defending local products.

"Why don't we love our nation's products?" said Inas.

Meanwhile, Hanura Party politician, I Gede Pasek Suardika, advised the public to fully understand a diction. Jokowi's statement takes diction to make an imperative of how to love domestic products.

"The imperative language is so that everyone will hear the invitation more," said Pasek.

"Foreign can be a figurative language for buying products that we really know and need. Because something foreign has a broader meaning," said Pasek.

"Such a narrative is just a method and it has been successful in South Korea when citizens are allergic to Japanese products and choose their own products. The results are very devastating how the South Korean industry is growing rapidly because the consumer market is strong," he said.

Furthermore, according to Pasek, that is how to bridge the passion of consumers with the quality of producers so that they truly become proud. He also considered President Jokowi's invitation to have a good purpose.

"Yes, it is clear that the goal is good with imperative diction. Do not read it with such meaning," said Pasek.