Indonesia calls for calm after flag error at Southeast Asian Games

The Indonesian government on Wednesday urged people not to overreact to a printing error at the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, in which the Indonesian flag was printed upside down. Protests, replica Malaysian flags burned and angry denunciations of the Malaysian government broke out in cities across the archipelago on Tuesday. Malaysia’s Southeast Asian Games organizers sparked outrage in Indonesia when news of the printing error emerged at the opening ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The Indonesian flag has a red stripe above a white stripe, but it was printed with the white stripe on top, making it look like the Polish flag. About 200 people protested outside the Malaysian consulate in Medan, on the island of Sumatra. Protesters burned tires and printed images of the Malaysian flag on paper, while demanding a formal apology from the Malaysian prime minister. A presidential spokesman reiterated remarks made by Joko Widodo over the weekend, calling for calm. “At the time, we asked the Malaysian government to issue a formal apology and the Minister of Youth and Sports had requested that the brochures and booklets be replaced,” spokesman Johan Budi told AFP. “The requests have been met, so please do not overreact and we must consider this issue wisely.” The protests, which also took place on Bangka island in West Aceh and Riau province, follow the hacking of 33 Malaysian websites on Monday by a group claiming to be Indonesian.