REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Australian media, Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), portrayed Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) as a public servant who has never had a filter. The media also dubbed him impulsive.

To further describe Ahok's personality, SMH then quoted the former Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri. "If only there were some magic tape to put [over his mouth] so that he would talk as we hope," Megawati reportedly lamented at a meeting before her party announced it would endorse him in next February's gubernatorial elections. "But there's no such thing."

SMH noticed, as the city's first openly Christian and ethnic Chinese governor - a double minority in Indonesia, Ahok has polarized the people. A couple weeks ago, in recorded remarks to a group of fishermen that went viral, Ahok suggested that some Muslims were deceived by Holy Quran surah Al Maidah verse 51. The comments caused outrage.

Ahok apologized and insisted he was not criticizing the verse but those who used it to attack him. But on last Friday, thousands of Muslims took to the streets, calling on police to process the case. The maximum penalty for blasphemy in Indonesia is five years' jail.

SMH said despite all of those negative traits, the feisty, straight-talking governor is remarkably popular.

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