Upside down flag - police to probe if it was sabotage

Police are investigating if there was an element of sabotage behind the Indonesian flag printed upside down in a Sea Games souvenir booklet, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said.

“Yes (we have received reports on the matter). We will investigate to see if there was an element of sabotage.

“Let us investigate first before deciding on the next course of action,” Khalid told a press conference at Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The upside down flag incident had sparked outrage among Indonesians.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had apologised to his Indonesian counterpart Imam Nahrawi over the matter.

The Malaysian Organising Committee (Masoc) also swiftly apologised, while replacement souvenir booklets depicting the Sang Saka Merah Putih flag in the correct orientation, have been published.

Meanwhile, Khalid also commented on the security for the Sea Games.

He said the police received complaints about long queues during the opening ceremony at Stadium Bukit Jalil last Saturday.

“We cannot compromise on this because it is a security issue. What is important is safety. So far the situation has been safe and things are proceeding smoothly,” he added.

On a separate matter, Khalid said police are working with the Islamic Affairs Department to monitor the activities of the group of atheists.

“The investigation is not by the police but by the Islamic Affairs Department, which focuses on Muslims involved in the group,” he added.

The police chief reiterated his warning to the people to steer clear of such groups and not to cause tension among the Muslims.

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman had also yesterday, in a statement, apologised to Indonesia for the upside down flag mistake. 

However, netizens spotted errors in Anifah's statement, where Imam Nahrawi's name was wrongly spelt as Nahwari. Evan Khairy's name was misspelt with Jamaluddin having three 'd's instead of two.

This prompted netizens to slam the government for publishing a statement for an international audience without proofreading.

When asked about this at Wisma Putra, Foreign Ministry secretary-general Ramlan Ibrahim said he will look into the matter.

"We will look into that," he said curtly.

He also declined to comment on Khalid's statement. He said," That's his view, I don't want to comment." - Mkini