(Rappler, ATA, AFP) Like his father, Jokowi's youngest son keeps it real

12/12/2018

Kaesang Pangarep is like your typical teenager. The 19-year-old Indonesian is into body building, tweets and blogs about mundane things in life, and takes the bus to school.

Except he's the son of the president of Indonesia.

And his graduation from the Anglo-Chinese International School in Singapore on Friday, November 21, was attended not only by his parents but by the Indonesian ambassador to Singapore, security officers, and reporters.

"No one knew his status (as the son of the Indonesian president). He takes the bus just like the rest of the students. Even with teachers, he didn't say he's the mayor or the governor's or the president's son," Ho Wee Kwong, Kaesang's physics teacher, told the Straits Times.

It's hardly surprising. The first family is known for their modest ways. (READ: Indonesia's first family blaze a modest trail in Southeast Asia)

On Friday afternoon, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the first lady, Iriana, flew to Singapore on economy class tickets via the flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, with only his security detail in tow.

Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said that as the event was a private one, Jokowi did not want to take the presidential plane and brought with him only his security detail.

In Singapore, the first couple checked in at the 5-star Hotel Mandarin Orchard, which is near Kaesang's school, but stayed only at a junior suite, according to Indonesian embassy spokesman Simon Soekarno.

Meager allowance

Jokowi's sons both attended high school in Singapore, and the eldest, Gibran Rakabuming, went to university in Sydney. But the goal of sending them abroad was to teach them to be independent.

"I very rarely take the MRT [subway] because it is more expensive than a bus ride. And that's fine so I can save for my future girlfriend," Kaesang wrote on his blog a few months ago.

He also said his mother had refused to increase his meager pocket money allowance, with his mother saying: "Your pocket money shouldn't be a lot, so that you know the misery of living in another country."

Unlike his more private elder brother and sister, Kaesang engages with his more than 90,000 followers on Twitter and shares his life – including his lack of a love life – on his blog, misterkacang.blogspot.com.

In a blog entry about his 4th year in Singapore, he describes the painful experience of being turned down by girls, describing his heart to be "as fragile as kerupuk (fish crackers)". He doesn't understand, he wrote, why he kept on failing, hearing responses like: "You're too good for me" or "Let's just be friends" or "I want to focus on school for now".

On Twitter, he interacts a lot with his followers, tells them which social media accounts bearing his name are false, tweets about fitness, and promotes his older brother's catering company in their hometown of Solo, Chilii Pari.

But when his followers told him to check out the gorgeous daughter of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, Nadine Kaiser, he replied: "I won't dare, she's the daughter of a minister."

In his most recent blog entry, he recounted the morning of the presidential inauguration on October 20 – his interactions with his siblings, how long his elder sister uses the bathroom, his father rushing to the bathroom before him, and his irritation at a tweet saying a lot of gay guys are crazy about him.

Many are appreciative of the glimpse into the ordinary lives of the new first family, but a number of pundits have pointed out they should now learn how to manage their public images.

Asked what he'll do next, he told the Straits Times he was thinking of studying business management, but was not influenced by his father. "I am influenced by myself," he said. – with a report from ATA and Agence France-Presse–Rappler.com

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(Rappler, ATA, AFP) Like his father, Jokowi's youngest son keeps it real

Kaesang Pangarep is like your typical teenager. The 19-year-old Indonesian is into body building, tweets and blogs about mundane things in life, and takes the bus to school.