The protest note was sent by the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on February 3, 2015, after receiving confirmation from some Indonesian nationals that the RobVacs commercial was published in social media, while its physical form had been removed, so that it could not be viewed by the public.
In the protest note, the Indonesian Embassy also urged the Malaysian authority to ban the commercial, including the one published on the RobVacs website http://neatrobotcleaner.com.my and hoped that such an incident would not recur in the future.
Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno noted in a press statement received by Antara here on Wednesday, that Indonesia deeply regretted the publishing of such an insensitive and racist commercial, which offended the sentiments of the Indonesian people.
"Moreover, this has emerged ahead of President Joko Widodos visit to Malaysia on February 5-7, which aims to enhance and deepen the bilateral relations between Indonesia and Malaysia, which are mutually beneficial," he noted.
Ambassador Prayitno also emphasized the importance of the two nations strengthening people-to-people contacts for fostering mutual respect and appreciation.
Thus, he remarked that it was necessary to uphold solidarity in a wider context as Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as other ASEAN member countries, would use a single identity as the ASEAN community by 2015.
Besides sending a protest note, the Indonesian Embassy also assigned a retainer lawyer to meet the RobVac enterprise and analyze the further legal approaches that could be taken. It also reported the publishing of the commercial to the Selangor Regional Police.
RobVac is a Malaysian private enterprise manufacturing house cleaning robots and had reportedly released an insensitive and racist commercial called "Fire Your Indonesian Maid Now".
(T.A060)
Reporter: Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
