As a neighboring country with plenty of connections to our own, it seems fair to expect Malaysians to know what the Indonesian flag looks like. After all, it’s hard to get it wrong; the flag just consists of a block of red and an equal sized block of white underneath.
But if somebody in Malaysia got it wrong — a teenager, no less — most Indonesians would just brush it off as a harmless error, right?
Well, most might. But, for some Indonesians football fans, that error is apparently answerable only by death.
On Friday morning, the Malaysian Under 16 soccer team were flying off to Indonesia to take part in the 2018 AFF U-16 Championship, which is contested by future stars from ASEAN nations. Prior to departure, one of their players, Amirul Ashrafiq Hanifah, committed what was deemed by some Indonesians to be unforgivable faux pas when he posted an upside down Indonesian flag (aka the Polish flag) emoji on his Instagram.
The error drew extreme outrage from irate Indonesians who perceived Hanifah’s post as a grave insult to their country. Some even issued death threats against the youngster, like in this viral screenshot of one Instagram poll which asked if it’s justifiable to “bunuh” (kill) Hanifah. 92% responded yes.
Hanifah did post an apology on Instagram, but, understandably, his account has been set to private since the controversy. The Malaysian Football Association did, however, share a screenshot of Hanifah’s apology on social media, in which he said the error was unintentional.
https://www.facebook.com/FAMalaysiaOfficial/posts/1759521984144558
“I would like to apologize to all Indonesians for my error the other day. I had no intention of provoking anyone, as it was an honest mistake. I hope the issue will not be blown out of proportion, and I sincerely apologize again,” Hanifah wrote in his post.
Well, the issue has been blown to extreme proportions. And Malaysia’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Syed Saddiq, is not taking the death threats against Hanifah lightly.
“The player has apologized. The Indonesian representatives have accepted the apology. Threats like these cannot be tolerated. I advise the affected party to file a report against those accounts (who issued death threats). The safety of the players is our priority,” Saddiq wrote in a tweet.
The Malaysian Football Association and the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) also said they guarantee the safety of Hanifah and the rest of the Malaysian team while they are competing in Indonesia.
Despite the apologies and the safety guarantees, the teenager will likely still have to deal with harsh receptions from local crowds while playing on Indonesian soil. Nonetheless, Hanifah has not withdrawn from the squad.
Malaysia has been drawn away from Indonesia in the competition, but should both teams go far, they could potentially meet in the semifinal or the final, and this flag controversy will likely escalate the on-pitch rivalry between the two neighboring nations.
