Penang police chief urges public to avoid flag gaffe rally

Penang police chief Azizee Ismail has urged the public not to participate in tomorrow’s Jalur Gemilang protest organised by Umno Youth in Bertam, Kepala Batas.

In a statement tonight, Azizee said the police have taken note of the upcoming protest tomorrow and urged against participating to ensure the safety of residents and maintain public order.

“The police also urge all parties to be patient and wait for the decision of the public prosecutor's office and not to take any action that could cause any form of tension.

“The police will take firm action against any party that violates the law or commits breach of the peace, disturbance, riot, or crime, according to the existing legal provisions,” he said.

Regarding the case of the upside-down Jalur Gemilang recently, he said an investigation is also being conducted on individuals who recorded and spread the video under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

According to Azizee, 38 police reports have been lodged nationwide regarding the incident, with 17 from Penang and 21 from other states.

He also explained that investigation papers have been completed and submitted to the Penang public prosecutor’s office on Aug 11 and are being reviewed by the relevant authorities.

Earlier today, Bersatu Youth Chief Hilman Idham announced that the party’s youth wing will be participating in tomorrow’s rally, together with Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh and the wing's members.

Akmal’s threat

Last week, Akmal announced that he would rally against a hardware store owner in Penang, who went viral for holding the Jalur Gemilang upside down.

The “Maruah Tanah Airku” (My nation’s pride) rally, which was originally scheduled for Aug 11, was postponed after police arrested the store owner, Feng Jin Zhen, on Sunday.

However, Akmal still threatened to go ahead with his plan if the authorities do not press charges by today.

"If there are no charges on this individual by Wednesday, then insyaAllah, on Thursday, I will go and we will give a class to educate this ‘ah pek’ on how to properly hoist the flag," he said in a Facebook video.

Following this, DAP also announced that it will mobilise its members in Penang to defend the hardware store against troublemakers.

Party secretary-general Anthony Loke described Akmal’s threat to stage a protest as a clear act of bullying that was not acceptable.

The latest flag blunder went viral on social media last week after a Facebook account under the name Nazirul Hafiz posted a 20-second video, in which a man, later identified as Feng, is seen carrying the flag upside down on a pole, while another man records him.

On Aug 9, Kwong Wah reported that Feng had explained that he was measuring the length of an iron pole while hanging the national flag and did not notice the error.

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