Fur-ever after: Indonesians sorry after lavish dog ‘wedding’ backlash

AFP | Jakarta              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Two Indonesian women have apologised after a lavish "wedding" for their dogs sparked a backlash in the middle-income country, where wealth distribution is one of the most unequal in the world.

Two Alaskan Malamutes were wed Friday at a mall in the capital Jakarta, donning traditional Javanese costumes alongside their owners and relatives at a fake ceremony that reportedly cost 200 million rupiah ($13,350).

A social media uproar followed after images emerged of the wolf-like dogs taking each other’s paws in marriage at the extravagant ceremony, forcing the owners into a contrite news conference. "We regret it very much, and we would like to apologise for the Javanese culture enthusiasts and all Indonesians who were uncomfortable and hurt by the event," Indira Ratnasari, owner of the female dog Luna, said Wednesday.

"We had no intention to insult the Indonesian and Javanese cultures," she said, according to footage posted on her makeup artist’s Instagram account. Ostentatious displays of wealth in the world’s fourth-most populous country are frowned upon and often criticised because of its widening income gap.

The minimum monthly wage in Jakarta is 4.9 million rupiah ($327), and the World Bank said last year that nearly a tenth of Indonesia’s 270 million people still live below the poverty line.