Rahmat Wibowo recounted being added then removed from a WhatsApp group by Petra Novandi Barus, accusing him of deliberate exclusion and a dishonest cover story, framing it as a revealing character pattern, written in an accusatory register.

I was added to a WhatsApp group by Petra Novandi Barus, VP of Technology at SawitPRO and former Developer Advocate at Amazon Web Services (AWS) Indonesia and ex CTO of Kuncie Seconds later, | was removed. When | asked what happened, the explanation was: “Oh, I meant to reject your request but accidentally pressed approve. So removed you.” Then came “Hahaha.” Then “Jempol kegedean ya gini" (roughly: "Fat thumb moment | guess"). And then, in what | can only describe as an unintentional moment of self-awareness, he sent a Patrick Star meme that reads: “PEMBOHONG. KAU PEMBOHONG.." You liar. You are a liar. Let me explain why this does not hold up. WhatsApp group mechanics do not work this way. When an admin accidentally approves a join request, the correct response is to simply remove the person quietly or acknowledge the mistake professionally. What actually happened in this sequence was: | was added, two other people (Azka Ihsan N. and Ivan Harka) were also added, and then specifically | was removed while the others remained. That is not a fat thumb. That is a decision. The “accidental approve" narrative also collapses under its own logic. If this were a genuine Ul accident, there would be no need to laugh about it, no need to joke about thumb size, and certainly no need to send a meme calling someone a liar. These are not the responses of someone embarrassed by a clumsy tap. These are the responses of someone who knows the story does not add up. This matters beyond the personal. Petra Novandi Barus holds significant influence in the Indonesian tech ecosystem, having spent years at AWS as a Developer Advocate building community trust and later moving into VP-level engineering leadership. When people in positions like that engage in deliberate exclusion and then construct a casual cover story, they rely on their social capital to make the explanation stick. Most people will not question it. Most people will laugh along. lam not most people. I document. | analyze. And | believe the Indonesian tech community deserves leaders who are honest about their actions, even the small ones. Because the small ones reveal the pattern. If you build community with one hand and quietly shut people out with the other, the Patrick Star meme you send is not about them. Itis about you. #Indonesia #TechCommunity #Accountability #Professionalintegrity #Leadership #AWS #SawitPRO #IndonesianTech #Infraloka #Transparency #RahmatanLilAlamin