The official Twitter account of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry was flooded with angry comments on Tuesday after it gave a tone-deaf response to a Twitter user’s complaint about a power outage.

Replying to a now-deleted tweet by Lucky Rafael Alouw on his account @Rafel_Juve0905, the ministry argued that complaining about a 10-hour blackout was inappropriate, as many Indonesians in remote areas did not even have electricity.

Lucky has made his account private but wrote on his profile that he lives in Manado, North Sulawesi, which suffered an hours-long blackout over the weekend.

Bersyukurlah Pak Lucky listriknya hanya padam 10 jam. Saudara2 kita di pelosok negeri malah ada yang belum menikmati penerangan listrik sama sekali lho. Minergi yakin teman2 @pln_123 sudah berusaha maksimal. Jika ada kekurangan mohon dimaklumi ya pak. Trims. https://t.co/450wB9lRbe — Kementerian ESDM RI (@KementerianESDM) 6 January 2019

“You should be grateful Pak Lucky that the blackout only lasted 10 hours. [Some of] our brothers and sisters in remote areas can’t even enjoy electricity. Minergi [the ministry account’s administrator] is sure that our friends over at @pln_123 have tried their best. If there are shortcomings, please understand. Thanks,” @KementerianESDM replied to Lucky on Sunday.

The ministry was referring to state-owned electricity company PLN and its official Twitter account.

The response triggered angry comments from Twitter users who said the administrator should have been more considerate.

jawabanyya ga gtu min.. klo di pelosok ga ada listrik, ya itu tugas negara agar diadakan listrik di daerah itu...



tapi kalo di perkotaan sering mati listrik ya perbaiki bukan bandingkan2 sama daerah lain. — Kartono (@kar_tono90) 8 January 2019

“The response shouldn’t be like that […] If there is no electricity in remote areas, then it’s the duty of the state to give the area electricity […] But if blackouts often occur in cities, then fix it, don’t compare it to other areas,” wrote Twitter user @kar_tono90.

Another Twitter user @hermansaksono said: “This is not a competition over who has the toughest life.”

Ini bukan perlombaan siapa yang hidupnya lebih susah. https://t.co/5gQNKy5OcM — Herman Saksono (@hermansaksono) 8 January 2019

Meanwhile, @dsswibawa replied: “This is why Indonesia is perceived as a friendly nation. Its people are always grateful and if they complain they will be regarded as ungrateful. In fact, complaining is a way to demand a service agreed upon between consumers and providers.”

Inilah yg buat Indonesia dipersepsikan sbg "bangsa yg ramah".. karena rakyatnya nrimo dan komplen dianggap tdk bersyukur.



Pdhl komplen itu menuntut hak atas service level agreement antara konsumen dan provider — Dadang Syahid (@dsswibawa) 8 January 2019

A lengthy power outage occurred in Gorontalo and North Sulawesi on Sunday because of a disturbance in the interconnected electrical system.

According to iNews, PLN spokesman for the Suluttenggo area, Jantje Rau, said the system would soon be back to normal.

“We are sorry for this inconvenience. Please [wish us luck] for a smooth maintenance process,” Jantje said on Sunday. (spl)