Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Respects Malaysia's Decision To Ban Comic Circulation Insulting Indonesian Migrant Workers

Spokesperson For The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Then Muhamad Iqbal/DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lalu Muhamad Iqbal respects the Malaysian government's decision to prohibit the circulation of comics "When I was a Kid 3" in which there is an insult to Indonesian migrant workers (PMI).

"What is clear is that the language used is'monyet' for our workforce," Iqbal said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, September 29.

Iqbal explained that regardless of the designation, it is intended for Indonesians or not, one part of the comic that tells the story of a father who teaches his son to call humans'monkey' is very non-educative.

"From an educational perspective, it is very uneducative and degrading to human dignity," he said.

The comic by Cheeming Boey is a picture of his childhood. In the 'When I Was a Kid' edition of 3 chapters entitled 'Coconuts II', Cheeming told a story when he was called by his father to see a monkey.

However, it was not a monkey he saw but a domestic worker from Indonesia who worked at his house.

The female worker is called a'monkey' because of her expertise in climbing coconut trees.

In a statement posted on his personal Instagram account, Boey reasoned that the story was written to show how amazed and amazed he was at the ability of his household workers to climb coconut trees very quickly.