PETALING JAYA, Oct 15 — A Malaysian beauty pageant finalist’s batik outfit has Indonesian social media users crying foul over its origins.
Miss Grand International 2018 finalist Debra Jeanne Poh was photographed at a competition event wearing a batik top that has been given a modern twist with its cropped form and bell sleeves.
Negative comments on Indonesian social media began pouring in saying that it was not appropriate for Poh to be wearing a top with a batik parang motif, a style native to Indonesia.
“Hey stupid, that’s our country’s batik,” said Instagram user indriawan92.
“How poor [is] this Miss Grand International... using other’s country original fabrics. Don’t you have your own?” asked another user with the Instagram handle rainbowsquishy09.
The debacle escalated when Poh’s predecessor Sanjeda John, winner of the Miss Grand Malaysia 2017 title, added fuel to the fire by uploading an Instagram story saying that Indonesians were being ‘stupid’ about the matter.
“Gosh, they even want to claim Malaysian batik. My God, please forgive their stupidity,” she wrote.
After uploading the Instagram story, John proceeded to make her account private.
Poh has since spoken up about the issue in several Instagram stories uploaded on her account, addressing accusations that she ‘claimed’ Indonesian batik to be of Malaysian origin.
“First of all, I didn’t claim anything. It’s just a clothing that I wear and I’m very proud of it.
“To all my fans that have been backing me up, thank you so much for your support and time. But seriously, we don’t have to go down to their level so let’s just ignore and pray for the best for them,” said Poh.
The 22-year-old beauty queen from Labuan, Sabah will be representing Malaysia at the Miss Grand International final in Myanmar on October 25.
