Returning to Jakarta, Surya Sahetapy Rejected by Online Motorcycle Taxi Due to Being Deaf and Called Disabled

Surya Sahetapy, the son of Dewi Yull & Ray Sahetapy, had an unpleasant experience when ordering an online motorcycle taxi after several years of not returning to Indonesia.

Instead of having a good impression when ordering the ride, his order was actually canceled because the driver did not want to take a hearing-impaired person.

But it wasn't that which made Surya upset. It was the driver's choice of words that he felt was inappropriate when giving the reason, making it seem discriminatory and insulting.

In the screenshot he uploaded to his Instagram account, it shows that Surya could not answer the motorcycle taxi driver's call because he uses sign language. Although he replied to the chat in normal language, unfortunately, the order was canceled with the sentence, "sorry I cancel...I’m not used to taking disabled people."

Of course, this makes Surya want to give suggestions and input to the ride-hailing service to improve its transportation services so that communication issues for people with disabilities do not occur again. 

In his Instagram story, Surya also mentioned that it would be better not to use the word "disabled" as an excuse; just an apology is enough so that it does not come off as insulting, and he doesn't need to post his experience on social media. 

Nevertheless, there are still people who feel that Surya's attitude is excessive and try to justify the driver's use of the word "disabled." Surya then replied, "It must be nice if you have never experienced what it feels like to be called disabled. Can we swap places?" in a joking tone.

Surya also added in the caption of his post, "But it's okay, I'm going back to the US soon. Because I am indeed on vacation. So it doesn't hurt too much. While I'm feeling nostalgic about being discriminated against after years of not being treated like this." Of course, there is a flood of support from netizens for Surya in this matter.