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School's flag blunder sparks fury from Akmal, forgiveness from academic
True to form, Akmal, known for his hardline posturing, questioned whether the school’s apology was sincere or merely performative.
The Merlimau assemblyperson demanded...
The upside-down Jalur Gemilang incident at a Chinese school in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, ignited sharply contrasting reactions from two familiar voices - fiery Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh and conciliatory academic Tajuddin Rasdi.
True to form, Akmal, known for his hardline posturing, questioned whether the school’s apology was sincere or merely performative.
The Merlimau assemblyperson demanded punitive measures, asserting that apologies are no remedy for perceived disrespect.
Stressing that the national flag must be honoured, not desecrated, Akmal decried what he described as a recurring pattern of offence followed by remorse.
“We have long emphasised that severe punishment must be given to those who disrespect the Malaysian flag. There’s no way someone wouldn’t realise the flag is upside down - unless they’re pretending not to know.
“We urge the Education Ministry to take stern action against the perpetrators before this becomes something trivialised, where people just ‘do it first, apologise later’ and think it’s settled,” he said in a Facebook post.
In contrast, Tajuddin urged fairness from the ministry, recalling that it too had committed a flag blunder in the recent past.
“Until now, we the rakyat have no clue what actions were taken,” he added in a statement to Malaysiakini.
The architecture professor was referring to an incorrect depiction of the national flag in an exam results analysis report circulated in April.
That misstep came shortly after similar blunders by two Chinese-language newspapers, which had provoked former education minister Maszlee Malik into calling for accountability.
Invoking Maszlee’s stance, Tajuddin made clear he didn’t think heads should roll this time over the Chinese school’s blunder.
“A statement of an honest mistake has been made by the school, and that is enough for me,” he added.
Yesterday, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek vowed “strict action” against SJKC Chung Hua.
The school has since apologised for the Aug 1 incident.
In a joint statement issued by the school board, administration, and Parent-Teacher Association, it explained that the error occurred during flag installation before the end of working hours.
“However, due to carelessness, one of the flags was installed upside down. This incident was recorded by the public and uploaded to social media.
“The school received the information around 5pm and took corrective measures immediately,” the statement read.
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Akmal is just waiting for us to make a mistake even an honest unintentional mistakes to jump on us. When US pushed us to the wall..what did Akmal do ? Tail between the legs and quiet as a mouse. He only pick people who cannot fight back..nothing but a thin skin coward disguised as a malay hero.
Honest mistake from a special need person. So Akmal and Fadhilina what say you? Make an example of the special need person or make an example of the school for hiring a special need person? Sarcasm intended! SEREMBAN: A general worker who is a slow learner mistakenly put up a Jalur Gemilang d upside down at a vernacular school in Port Dickson, says Lukut assemblyman Choo Ken Hwa. He said he visited the school immediately after a photograph of the flag went viral on Friday (Aug 1). "I met with the board of governors and the headmaster and was told that the worker was a special needs person as he was a person with intellectual disability. "I was told that the flag was immediately brought down after the school realised the mistake," he said.