Don't Blow Flag Issue Out Of Proportion, Says Jokowi

JAKARTA, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- President Joko Widodo on Sunday called on all parties not to blow the issue of the Indonesian flag printed upside down in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games booklet out of proportion. The online media on Sunday quoted the Indonesian president as saying that although the matter was regrettable, people in the country should not over-play the issue. "Don’t exaggerate it," he said, as quoted by Detik.com, the most popular online news in Indonesia. He said the Malaysian government, however, should formally apologise to Indonesia. "We wait for an official apology from the Malaysian government, as it concerns the pride and nationalistic spirit of our Indonesian people,” said the president, better known as Jokowi. The 2017 Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee (MASOC) in a statement earlier on Sunday, apologised to all Indonesian people over the unintended mistake. Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who is also MASOC chairman, also made a courtesy call on his Indonesian counterpart in Kuala Lumpur today to apologise for the error on behalf of the committee. -- BERNAMA