Projek Sama calls upon Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to put his foot down to stop the ethnic witch-hunt by Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh, a member of his Madani coalition government.
In the latest escalation, Akmal has threatened to hold a protest against a shop owner in Penang, Feng Jin Zhen, if the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) does not press charges against him over the upside-down display of the Jalur Gemilang.
Projek Sama demands an end to the investigation and harassment of Feng, who was released on police bail for his unintended mistake, which, according to him, was made when measuring the pole.
Projek Sama strongly upholds the need to treat and fly the Jalur Gemilang with respect and dignity.
While the proper handling of our national flag is important, unintended mistakes must not be blown out of proportion to be politicised and effect an ethnic witch-hunt.
It applies to all, or it applies to no one
If the Madani government wants to prosecute the shop owner for a mere wrongful display of the national flag, then Malaysians expect consistent application of the law in other cases concerning the national flag, amongst others.
(a) On Aug 11, 2025, Terengganu Umno Youth showed a 12-stripe national flag in a poster for #JusticeforZara;
(b) In April 2025, the Education Ministry’s report on the SPM results included an AI-created malformed national flag;
(c) In May 2025, PAS Terengganu posted an incorrect, modified national flag in its Himpunan Teguh Memimpin Terengganu event poster.
In the April and May cases, the wrongful parties apologised and the issues were rightly settled.
Malaysians did not remember Akmal making any threat for the wrongful parties to be charged. Why his hypocrisy today?
In the fresh-from-the-oven Terengganu Umno Youth case, will anyone be arrested and investigated under Section 5 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963 and Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955, as Feng was subject to?
Is PM letting Akmal run free again?
Anwar’s entire Madani project is again called into question and risks being seen as a hollow and hypocritical slogan if the prime minister allows Akmal to continue his ethnic witch hunt.
This time, he has weaponised the national flag and has thus far even succeeded in pressuring the police into arresting Feng.
Akmal’s successful pressure on the police and now the blatant threat to the AGC to do his bidding reflect the mindset of many politicians that law enforcement agencies are the executive’s weapons to extract concessions and score political mileage.
This undermines the urgency to depoliticise the prosecution by separating it from the AGC.
Malaysians still remember how Anwar’s inelegant silence in March 2024 allowed Akmal’s inflammatory campaigns over the sale of socks allegedly bearing the word “Allah” to escalate a localised incident into a national crisis.
Three KK Mart outlets in Bidor, Kuantan, and Kuching were firebombed, while the police failed to catch any suspects in the attacks.
Akmal’s promise to “teach” the Penang shop owner how to hang the flag correctly, after publicly labelling and condemning him, borders on vigilantism.
He targets a vulnerable ordinary citizen who wanted to express his patriotism by raising the national flag, but made an initial mistake by hanging it wrongly, which was quickly corrected.
Incident undermines flag’s values
If Akmal’s sinister attempt to stir public emotions through fear, insecurity, and resentment is not called out and put to an end, can anyone guarantee that the shop he witch-hunted would not become the target of another Molotov cocktail attack?
It’s most disgusting that this antic is employed, and enabled by the tacit consent of the Madani government through police arrest, in the wake of Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day.
While sad, it is also a wake-up call on the meaning of being Malaysian and what we should do to preserve our nationhood.
National symbols like the Jalur Gemilang should unite us in pride and common purpose, not be used as cudgels to attack individuals or communities.
Weaponising patriotism for partisan ends undermines the very values the flag represents - unity, dignity, and mutual respect among all Malaysians.
If people make mistakes in displaying or presenting national symbols, educate, not humiliate - launch public awareness campaigns on the proper handling of the Jalur Gemilang instead of engaging in public shaming, let alone an ethnic witch hunt.
Even the British could do it
The call by National Unity Minister Aaron Ago Dagang for Malaysians not to be afraid of raising the national flag is completely hollow.
Can Malaysians be blamed if they are too afraid to raise the national flag because any small error can be turned into a witch hunt?
It is most regrettable that even the minister himself echoes the accusatory chorus rather than pointing out the unintended nature of Feng’s mistake.
Just apply common sense. What can a shop owner gain by purposefully wrongly displaying the national flag?
No society can be free from divisive and extremist politicians like Akmal. In most societies, they do not get to cause harm because leaders and the public would speak up and stop them.
In 2024, the British Conservative Party suspended a government backbencher MP, Lee Anderson, for accusing London mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists.
If the British Conservative government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could rein in Anderson for making an Islamophobic statement, why can’t Malaysia’s Madani government under Anwar rein in Akmal for terrorising an ordinary citizen?
Often attributed to British philosopher and politician Edmund Burke, we are all familiar with this quote: “All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”
What Akmal would do next does not matter as much as what Anwar would or would not do.
Anwar can make his choice, and Malaysians will make theirs two and a half years from now. - Mkini
PROJEK SAMA is an initiative to advocate for institutional reforms for the sake of political stability and accountability at a time when our nation steers through the uncharted waters of a hung Parliament and coalition government.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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