KUALA LUMPUR: An Opposition MP has called on the government to take stern action against civil servants who hang the Jalur Gemilang upside down, regardless of whether or not it was accidental.
Dr Halimah Ali (PN-Kapar) said the government must carry out an immediate audit of all government departments, agencies and schools to ensure that civil servants are not careless when raising the national flag.
She added that incidents of flags being flown incorrectly should be subject to meaningful disciplinary action to set an example for the people.
“I just returned from China recently, and never once did I see or hear of any case of upside-down national flags in the country.
“This can be attributed to their stringent enforcement of their national flag law,” she said in Parliament on Tuesday (Aug 12).
Her remarks followed public outcry reaching a peak after multiple cases of the Jalur Gemilang being flown upside-down came to light over the last few weeks.
This included a 59-year-old shopkeeper who found himself at the centre of an uproar after a 21-second video of the Jalur Gemilang upside-down outside his store went viral.
Another case involved the flag being hung upside down at a school in Port Dickson by a general worker, with the photos going viral.
