Malaysia yesterday apologized to Indonesia for an “unintentional” mistake in printing the Indonesian flag upside down in a souvenir guidebook for the Southeast Asian 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.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo demanded an apology for hurt national pride, but also cautioned against exaggerating the incident with his neighbor. The two countries share the same religion and language, but often trade accusations of stealing the other’s food and culture.
Photo: AP
Malaysian Minister for Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin met his Indonesian counterpart Imam Nahrawi to personally apologize. After a brief private meeting yesterday, the two ministers shook hands at a news conference.
Khairy, who was quick to issue the first apology late on Saturday on Twitter, said that the guidebooks will be corrected and reprinted.
Indonesia appears to have taken particular offense because the guidebook was distributed to VIPs at Saturday’s opening ceremony in Kuala Lumpur for the 29th Southeast Asian Games and only its flag was shown incorrectly.
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,” he said.
Khairy said the mistake was “unintentional and it happened due to our carelessness.”
“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 apologize to the people of Indonesia for this mistake,” he said.
The creation of Malaysia when the British empire was dismantled after World War II was bitterly opposed by Indonesia, itself then a new nation emerging from Dutch colonial rule and a short-lived Japanese occupation.
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 Ass,” one user wrote on Twitter.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS