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Indonesia Bank Note Information Hoax
We’ve seen a devil’s face in someone’s hair, the word “sex” spelled out in a group of palm trees, and other such interpretable objects appearing on bank notes. Now Indonesia is blaming fake news for claiming something anti-Chinese appears on the nation’s recently released 75,000-rupiah bank note.
The bank note, worth about 5 USD, was released to mark the 75th anniversary of Indonesia’s independence from the Netherlands. The Indonesian War of Independence involved an internal social revolution as well. The Netherlands officially recognized Indonesian independence in 1949. The independence movement gained momentum during the Japanese World War Two occupation of the country.
The 75,000-rupiah note features a vignette depicting children from nine of Indonesia’s 34 provinces. Each child is dressed in a traditional outfit. One child from the North Kalimantan province wears a Tidung tribal costume. North Kalimantan borders Malaysia. The social networks Facebook and Twitter exploded with accusations the child is wearing a traditional Chinese rather than an Indonesian outfit.
One Indonesian wrote on Twitter that “it is proven Indonesia is China’s colony.” Another tweeted asking how long it would take before Indonesian bank notes would depict Chinese lion dancers and deities.
Not everything tweeted was negative. One individual tweeted people believing the child wears Chinese garb are “blind to Indonesia’s culture.” Someone else questioned why Indonesians have so little knowledge of their own country’s traditional costumers.
On Aug. 17 Bank of Indonesia Currency Management Department head, Marlison Hakim, said featuring children had been an attempt to “emphasize the diversity which is an asset for the Indonesian nation.” Nothing referencing any of the nine provinces has appeared on previous Indonesian bank notes.
At the root of the disinformation is anti-Chinese sentiment. People admitting to be of Chinese descent in the most recent census report total about 2.8 million out of a total population of more than 270 million. The Chinese business community is influential and wealthy, something of which makes the average Indonesian citizen suspicious. Singapore and China lead all foreign investments in Indonesia, leading to prejudice against both by Indonesians.
The anti-Chinese sentiment is primarily religious and ethnic. Indonesia is mostly a Muslim country. More than half the population is under 30 years of age. According to Statista, there are about 140 million Facebook users. About 80 percent of the population view WhatsApp. Both are blamed for accelerating fake news.
Indonesia now uses bank notes in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, and 100,000 rupiah. A vignette of a prominent Indonesian appears on the front of each. Individuals in traditional costumes alongside prominent landscapes appear on the reverses. All notes include watermark and security thread security devices.
There have been bank notes depicting vignettes that can be misinterpreted before. In 1922 Germany issued a “stranglehold” 10,000-mark bank note that appears to show a vignette of either a hand or a vampire grabbing the throat of the depiction of a young German male on the front. Due to rampant inflation at the time the suggestion of something being at the person’s throat could have had political as well as social meaning.
In September 1954 Canada released bank notes on which Queen Elizabeth II appeared for the first time. The hair behind the queen’s left ear appears to have the face of either a devil or a monkey within it. The engraving was quickly altered to remove the image.
In 1977 the Seychelles issued a 50-rupee bank note in which the word “sex” could be read in the leaves of the palm trees on the right side of the back of the note.
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