East Kalimantan Governor Rudy Mas'ud is facing a backlash after a photo of him at breakfast with his wife in Singapore went viral while wildfire smoke blankets his Indonesian province.
The photo, which its poster on Threads said showed the governor at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, had drawn more than 11,000 likes by Oct. 15, AsiaOne reported.
Commenters accused Rudy of enjoying himself abroad while his constituents struggled to breathe, and some pointed out that the trip coincided with the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, held Oct. 9-11.
Indonesia is battling its most intense El Nino-fueled wildfire season in 11 years, and the haze has sharply worsened air quality in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, Reuters reported on Oct. 13.
Respiratory illnesses linked to the fires reached 277,075 cases in seven Indonesian provinces as of Oct. 12, more than double the 113,336 recorded as of Sept. 9, according to Health Ministry data cited by the agency.
Ririn Sari Dewi, head of East Kalimantan's Communications and Informatics Department, told Kaltim Today, a local news site, that the governor went to Singapore for a medical check-up at Mount Elizabeth Hospital because his health had been below par amid a heavy workload.
According to the schedule she gave, Rudy attended a Golkar Party event in Bandung on Oct. 10 as the party's East Kalimantan chair, flew to Singapore that night and had the check-up on Oct. 11.
The appointment was set for a weekend so it would not disrupt government work, and he was back in Jakarta by midday on Oct. 12 and in Balikpapan that afternoon, she said.
Ririn said the trip had verbal approval from Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, with a written request filed at the same time because government offices were closed for the weekend. The governor paid for it himself, not from the provincial budget, she added.
She also apologized for any questions, disappointment or negative impressions the trip had caused while the province grapples with the fires and economic strain.
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Thick haze obscures Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Oct. 9, 2026. Photo by AP |
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Bima Arya Sugiarto confirmed on Oct. 14 that Tito had approved the trip for health reasons, on condition that it was short and that Rudy kept coordinating the disaster response, Tirto, an Indonesian news site, reported.
Bima said the ministry would act if there was proof that the governor had gone to watch the race. "If there is evidence, please send it to us," he said.
Governor Rudy also drew criticism earlier this year over a Range Rover worth Rp8.5 billion ($475,000) that the provincial government bought as his official car. He returned it in early March after a public outcry, and President Prabowo Subianto later alluded to the purchase as an example of inefficient regional spending, CNN Indonesia reported.
In May, after student and labor protests in Samarinda, 21 provincial lawmakers signed a motion to open a formal inquiry into his administration, the outlet reported.