Indonesia accepts Malaysia’s apology for flag misprint in SEA Games booklet

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia apologised to Indonesia on Sunday (Aug 20) for an “unintentional” mistake in printing the Indonesian flag upside down in a souvenir guidebook for the SEA Games. 

The error made the red-and-white Indonesian flag resemble Poland’s and caused anger in Indonesia, where “#shameonyoumalaysia” has become the most popular hashtag on Twitter.  President Joko Widodo had demanded an apology for hurt national pride, but also cautioned against exaggerating the incident with his neighbour. 

“We would like to extend our apology to the government and the people of the Republic of Indonesia,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said, adding that Putrajaya has taken measures “to address the unfortunate situation” and places importance on its “close and deeply rooted” ties with Indonesia.

Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had earlier met his Indonesian counterpart Imam Nahrawi to personally apologise. Mr Khairy said the mistake was “unintentional and it happened due to our carelessness”, and that the guidebooks will be corrected and reprinted.

“This was a big, big mistake. I, on behalf of the host, have conveyed our apologies to ... Imam as the Indonesian minister, and also I apologise to the people of Indonesia for this mistake,’’ he said. 

Indonesia appears to have taken particular offence because only its flag was shown incorrectly in the guidebook, which was distributed to VIPs at Saturday’s opening ceremony in Kuala Lumpur for the 29th SEA Games. 

Mr Nahrawi, who earlier described the error as “very painful”, said he accepted the apology. “We hope these mistakes don’t get repeated because flags are important symbols for each country and should be respected.”

On Twitter, Indonesians said their flag represents the sacrifices of independence heroes, and accused Malaysia of either being stupid or deliberately misprinting it. “You know, this is maybe the reason why our founding father Soekarno wanted to Kick Your A**,” said one user. 

“If we want, our country can eliminate you from the world map,” wrote another user.

Others were upset that the mistake was also carried in a local newspaper. “Twice?! OMG?! r u kidding us hah?! that’s not funny!” said another Twitter user. AGENCIES