A mysterious banner urging that the national flag be replaced with the controversial Bendera Rakyat has emerged in Jalan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

NONE The white banner features the Jalur Gemilan g marked with a big cross and accompanied by the words 'this flag must go', while the Bendera Rakyat flag can be seen next to it with a green tick.

Below the two flags, the banner refers to the coming Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (People's Uprising Rally) to be held on Saturday.

The banner was found on the pedestrian bridge near the Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) headquarters and Abdullah Hukum Putra Light Rail Transit station.

A station employee, who declined to be named, told Malaysiakini that a few passengers had informed him of the banner around 9am.

Asked whether the station staff would remove the banner, he said they could not do so as the bridge is under the purview of Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

Sabotage

suspected

Activist Mohd Haizal Yatizan said he “is angry” about the use of the Bendera Rakyat on the banner, and has denied any responsibility for putting up banner.

Haizal, who, with friends, promotes the Bendera Rakyat , said he will pull down the banner himself, as he feels this to be sabotage.

sang saka malaya flag raise at dataran merdeka new year count down 010113 4 “I will pull it down now. I do not want people to say it was us (who put it up),” he said when contacted.

“We do not want to change the national flag. We only want people to know the history of that flag. That is all. We did not put up such banners."

On New Year's eve, activists flew the Bendera Rakyat , also known as the Sang Saka Merah Putih , at Dataran Merdeka ( right ) to demand that the nation’s history involving the “leftist” struggle for independence be written “with truth and facts”.

The flag was once proposed as the national flag by leftist group Putera-AMCJA (All-Malaya Council of Joint Action) in the 1940s and 1950s.

Another flag known as Sang Saka Malaya was flown during the Janji Demokrasi gathering on Merdeka eve last August, which sparked a police investigation.

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First, Dataran Merdeka. Now, Stadium Merdeka