If you a person of authority, you are allowed to say really dumb things.
Some years ago, the Minister of Justice commented on a foreigner who’d been on death row in Sumatra for several years, his appeal dragging on, causing him mental suffering. The Minister said, “It is best that we execute him as soon as possible, for his own peace of mind.”
More recently, despite protests the local administration has built a six-foot high wall along Kuta beach. The mayor said, “It stops the sand from blowing onto the road, and besides, the wall is done in Balinese architectural style and provides an excellent backdrop for tourists to take their photos.”
I don’t about you, but if I want to head out to the beach, or have a sunset drink at a restaurant by the seaside, I want to go the beach without having to bring rappelling gear. And I don’t want to seeing the sun setting into brick, no matter how ornamented.
This island and country has long had a tradition of respect for persons in authority, no matter if they got their positions from lineage, nepotism, or corruption (only rarely, alas, by dint of intelligent hard work). Such persons are allowed to get away with saying really dumb things, in part because they aren’t capable of saying really smart things, but also because they know nobody is going to bat an eye. “Yes, sir, very good, sir, that makes eminent sense, sir.”
The Indonesians have a phrase for it: asal bunyi saja. As long as you’re making noise.