Like an old grouchy uncle who will sporadically interject with nonsensical ramblings at family gatherings, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla popped up again to grumble about how his country shouldn’t be blamed for its massive forest fires.
Officiating the Indonesia Forest Congress in Jakarta on Wednesday, he reportedly said the fault of Indonesia’s receding forests should also be laid on “foreign people” too. Indonesia’s peatland restoration efforts, he says, should include funds contributed from the international community.
Of course, Kalla couldn’t resist taking jabs at Indonesia’s neighbours, who’ve been suffering directly from transboundary haze for years.
“Malaysia and Singapore get angry because of the forest fires. It’s so easy to say, but you think we also don’t feel it? We feel it even more. Secondly, if you get fresh air from Sumatra, Kalimantan, you don’t say thank you. So, if you get the haze, why should I apologise?” he stated, as quoted by Channel NewsAsia.
Good grief — the anger of that man. The Indonesian VP of course is known for another classy quote he made last year:
“For 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us. They have suffered because of the haze for one month and they get upset”.
Months later, during the peak of the haze crisis, he would come pleading for help from Singapore.
“Singapore please come and tackle the haze because the effect is also felt by Singapore. We, not to mention Singapore, dislike (the haze). Everyone dislikes it and we have put in extra effort to tackle the fires,” he said.
Classic Kalla. Here’s how you can thank him.
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