Malaysian Consulate Apologizes For The Incident Of Indonesia's Best Flag In Today's Memory, August 22, 2017

Portrait of Indonesia's inverse flag in the 2017 SEA Games guidebook. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA Memori hari ini, tujuh tahun yang lalu, 22 Agustus 2017, Konsul Malaysia di Pekanbaru, Hardi Hamdin meminta maaf terkait incident bendera Indonesia terbalik pada penyelenggaraan SEA Games 2017 di Negeri Jiran. Mereka pun berjanji akan membawa aspirasi rakyat Indonesia ke pemerintah Malaysia.

Previously, the Indonesian people were shocked by the presence of the 2017 SEA Games guidebook which contained a picture of the Indonesian flag upside down. This condition made the Malaysian government criticized. The action to demand Malaysia apologized for appearing everywhere.

The friction between Indonesia-Malaysia is not small. The conflict varies, from the affairs of island claims to cultural claims. This condition brings about the hot tension between the two citizens. Whenever a conflict arises, people's response will explode.

Take for example when Malaysia allegedly tried to embarrass Indonesia in the 2017 SEA Games event in Malaysia. The 2017 SEA Games guidebook actually contains the inverse Indonesian flag. The loading of the Indonesian flag capsized not only appears in one or two in a mere guidebook, but all books.

This condition angered the Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora), Imam Nahrawi. According to him, Malaysia has made fatal and painful negligence. Imam's mistake was raised in his tweet on Twitter and immediately flooded with responses on August 20, 2017.

The Indonesian people are furious, no joke. They think Malaysia deliberately wants to embarrass Indonesia and is no longer a matter of negligence. Protests were rolling everywhere. The Malaysian Embassy office in Jakarta was also targeted.

Protesters asked Malaysia to formally apologize to the Indonesian people. The debate did not only arise from mass organizations. Governments from the military did the same thing.

The TNI Commander, Gatot Nurmantyo, also raised his voice. He has even made a protest note to the Malaysian government. Gatot also regretted that Southeast Asian sports celebrations were injured by the reverse flag incident.

"I have checked with the Indonesian Ambassador in Malaysia, and have submitted a protest note to the Malaysian government. It is very unfortunate as a neighboring country like that, but there has been an apology from the Malaysian government regarding the overturning of the Indonesian flag. We have to think positively, the committee has also apologized. That means the accident," explained Gatot in a press release as quoted by the republican website, August 21, 2017.

The Malaysian government's apology was also made by the Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports by meeting with the Minister of Youth and Sports Imam directly. The Malaysian government confirmed that it would withdraw all the books. Later, the new books will be sent to all members of the SEA Games delegation.

However, the apology did not satisfy the Indonesian people. Malaysian Consul in Pekanbaru, Riau was also the target of a demonstration on August 22, 2017. The demonstrators also led to anarchist acts. They tried to break through the police barricades and knock down the iron gate of the consulate.

Fortunately, the incident was overcome. Malaysian Consul in Pekanbaru, Hardi Hamdin immediately apologized for the incident of the inverse flag of Indonesia. He promised to convey the aspirations of the protesters to the central government in Malaysia. The protesters also appreciated the apology and dispersed calmly.

"I apologize to the people of Indonesia, especially residents in Riau. I also regret the incident," said Hardi as quoted on the okezone page, August 22, 2017.