A HUMAN rights activist has put forth a pertinent question: Should Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim “also be investigated and/or charged for an incomplete Jalur Gemilang offence” as evident on the Malaysia Madani logo which even appears on billboards with his face?
Charles Hector took PMX to task by citing the latter’s very own statement in the wake of the Sin Chew Daily missing moon crescent blunder that the publication of an incomplete Malaysian flag is “not a trivial matter” for it underscores the importance of national symbols.
“The Malaysia Madani logo features an incomplete Malaysian flag. There are no 14 stripes which represent the 13 states and the Federal Territories,” Hector who is also a Temerloh (Pahang)-based lawyer penned in his latest blog.
“It has only 10 stripes – are four of the stripes left out because the states are ruled by the Opposition? The number of stripes is important!”
Pointing to the latest national flag blunder with Terengganu PAS caught in the controversy, Hector drove home the point that but there is no specific law that deals with wrong portrayal of the Malaysian flag at the moment.
He contended that the National Emblems (Control of Display) Act 1949 (Revised 1977) does not have a specific offence pertaining to ‘’incomplete national flag”.
“The Act criminalises the display of national emblems, including flags except on ships and planes. In fact, Section 3(1) of the Act states that ‘No person shall display in public or at or within any school any national emblem’,” he observed.
“Thus, the display of national flags or state flags is an offence and that will include the putting up of flags during independence (Merdeka) day and on other occasions.”
As for another legislation, the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963 (Revised 1989)-which covers the Jalur Gemilang, Hector rued that “it’s too strict as any use requires written permission of the minister”.
“This is absurd for Malaysians cannot display the flag or even place stickers (of the flag) without the written approval of the minister,” asserted the Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET) co-founder..
“We should be free to do so without any requirement of any minister or PM. Intentionally using it for a evil purpose may be a crime but would it not be against freedom of expression?”
Given the existing ambiguity – and perhaps the rising number of blunders – Hector suggested that the first thing to do is to make it a crime to display an “incomplete’ national flag”.
“Should it also apply to logos? Or can part of a flag be used in advertisements, etc? Well, Parliament will need to clarify,” he suggested.
“As requiring the written approval of the minister is absurd, the law should specify when and where the flag can be displayed? Can it be on socks, T-shirts, etc?”
Now that the issue of “incomplete national flag” has become an issue, Hector expressed concern that “the first violators of this ‘crime’ could be the government itself as evident by the Malaysia Madani logo which is found on billboards”.
Beyond this, recall that the Education Ministry (MOE), too, found itself caught in a national flag blunder of “two stars and eight stripes (instead of 14)”.
“Will the government apologise or are we living in a country where whatever the PM and/or government does is always right irrespective of whether it’s legal or not?” asked Hector. – May 21, 2025
Main image credit: The Star
