Jokowi’s son broke up with his girlfriend. It caused a stir in Indonesia’s Chinese community

Kaesang Pangarep and Felicia Chew were one of the most high-profile interfaith couples in a country where relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims still raise eyebrows

Their break-up has cast a fresh spotlight on interracial and interfaith relations in Indonesia, where ethnic Chinese make up less than 2 per cent of the population

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Felicia Chew and Kaesang Pangarep pictured in happier times. Photo: Instagram

Published: 10:00am, 28 Mar 2021Updated: 11:33am, 29 Mar 2021

Indonesians are no strangers to celebrity gossip, but when it emerged that President Joko Widodo’s youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep, had been through a bad break-up with his Singapore-based girlfriend of five years, Felicia Chew, the news set social media abuzz with fascination and rumour.

Debate has raged over the allegations made by Felicia’s mother, Meilia Lau, that 26-year-old Kaesang dated her daughter through their studies at the Singapore University of Social Sciences but ultimately “ghosted” the young woman earlier this year and took up with a former employee. Kaesang, who attended the Anglo-Chinese School (International) in Singapore before earning his degree, is now CEO of an array of businesses back in Indonesia, including a food franchise called Sang Pisang.

Lau claimed she had “proof” that Kaesang asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage and had made plans for the two of them to wed by December 2020, before he simply “disappeared” and ignored all attempts at communication.

In a statement issued in early March, Kaesang said he had told Felicia in January that their relationship was over but she had reacted with hostility.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Photo: Reuters

Never before has the private life of a member of the president’s immediate family been subject to such public scrutiny. Much of the attention stemmed from the fact that Kaesang is a Javanese Muslim and Felicia is an ethnic Chinese Christian, which made them one of the few high-profile couples to be openly interracial and inter-faith in a country where such relationships still raise eyebrows.