The ghost of Indonesia’s Christmas past, religious intolerance, is raised with a tweet about cake
- Notice claiming Jakarta bakery would no longer put Christmas symbols on its cakes has caused a stir after a Twitter photo went viral
- It may be fake news, but it has raised the ghost of Christmas past in a land where Islamic extremism has left many on edge
The notice, which appeared last week on paper with no letterhead or logo, advised customers the bakery would no longer design Christmas themes or symbols on its cakes over the holiday season. Nor would it design cakes with Halloween or Valentine’s Day themes, it added, as if for good measure.
Many people were swift to blame the Indonesia Ulema Council, the country’s supreme body of Islamic clerics, which has a history of issuing controversial religious edicts, or fatwa, this time of year.
But the council flatly denied issuing any edict on cake decorations. And Tous Les Jours, the South Korean bakery franchise in question, denied having any such a policy, saving both sides the ignominy of being labelled “the Grinch who stole Christmas”.
Many have since dismissed the Twitter post as an example of fake news, albeit one that could have very real, and ugly, consequences.