Picture of inverted Perak flag goes viral

Association: mistake by jersey supplier unintentional

IPOH: When it rains, it seems to pour on the Malaysian cagers with another mistake involving a flag.

A picture showing an upsidedown Perak flag on a state basketball player’s jersey went viral on social media.

The Perak Basketball Association has promptly apologised, saying that the mistake by the apparel supplier was unintentional.

Association secretary Tan Tiang Seng said they launched an immediate investigation and found that only one jersey of the Perak basketball team competing in the National Under-15 Basketball Championship in Kuala Lumpur was printed with the inverted Perak flag.

In a written letter to state sports committee chairman Howard Lee on Tuesday, Tan said: “The error committed by the apparel supplier was not intentional.”

Tan said the association management committee sincerely apologised over the incident and promised it won’t recur.

“We promise to be careful with all official state symbols and flags from now on,” he added.

This follows an incident whereby a distorted Jalur Gemilang was used during the opening ceremony of the National Under-15 Basketball Championship.

Malaysian Basketball Association (Maba) president Datuk Lua Choon Hann had since apologised, saying it was due to the carelessness of the contractor in charge of the “live stream” who used the distorted flag when the Negaraku was being played.

Maba has terminated the contractor’s services.

Lee said he instructed all sporting teams, associations and clubs to be more careful with state symbols and flags.

Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk Huzir Mohamed said police has identified a company that was found to have made a mistake in the flag that was displayed, adding that nine police reports were received over the incident.

Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah tweeted yesterday that the public should “stop racialising” the mistake over the flag.

“Malaysian citizens are Malaysian citizens,” he said.

He said there should be an investigation and stern action taken over the error “but turning this into a racial matter is not right”.