Upside-down flags at MCA Perak HQ trigger resignation and criticism
An elderly staff member at the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Perak state headquarters resigned on Friday after hoisting the national flag, Jalur Gemilang, and the Perak state flag upside down ahead of the…
Source: The Rakyat Post · August 29, 2026 at 1:31 PM · AI-assisted report
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KUALA LUMPUR, 29 AUGUST 2026 —
An elderly staff member at the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Perak state headquarters resigned on Friday after hoisting the national flag, Jalur Gemilang, and the Perak state flag upside down ahead of the country’s Merdeka celebrations, prompting criticism from opposition leaders.
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The incident occurred on 28 August, three days before Malaysia’s National Day, when the unnamed long‑serving employee at the MCA office in Ipoh raised both flags in reverse. Photographs of the inverted flags circulated on social media within hours, spreading rapidly during the peak of the Bulan Kemerdekaan campaign. The flags were taken down and re‑hoisted correctly once the mistake was noticed, but the images had already gone viral.
MCA deputy president and Perak state liaison committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon issued a public apology addressed to Sultan Nazrin Shah and all Malaysians. He said the elderly staff member, described as “deeply remorseful,” voluntarily offered his resignation. Ipoh district police arrived at the headquarters at approximately 1:00 p.m. on Friday to record statements from the administrative officer and the staff member involved, and MCA confirmed it would fully cooperate with the authorities.
In a video posted to his official Facebook page, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhammad Akmal Saleh said the party’s apology fell short of what the incident warranted. “I want to ask MCA — is that really all?
Are you just going to leave it at that?” he asked, adding that “even someone who is not of sound mind would know how to install a flag properly.” Akmal said the public had grown “bored” of a recurring pattern in which individuals commit offences and immediately seek refuge in an apology, and called on police to conduct a transparent investigation and release their findings publicly.
He also urged the government to introduce heavier penalties for acts of disrespect toward national symbols.
Akmal responded to prior accusations that he applies pressure selectively, saying he had been and would remain consistent in his position regardless of the offender’s “skin colour or political colour.” He noted that his criticism was not aimed at any particular party but at the act itself.
The flag‑inversion episode follows at least three other cases reported across Johor earlier in August, where individuals—including factory workers and a security guard—were arrested and remanded after displaying flags upside down. In one of those incidents, a factory was ordered to shut down temporarily pending investigation.
Ipoh Timur Member of Parliament and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Central Executive Committee member Howard Lee pushed back against Akmal on Facebook, calling the youth chief’s remarks “cheap political stunts” and urging him to “give MCA Perak some breathing space during this Merdeka month.” Lee accused Akmal of selective outrage, pointing out that similar flag blunders within UMNO Youth’s own ranks, notably in Terengganu, had been ignored.
He stopped short of labeling it a double standard, saying sarcastically that he was “quite certain Akmal does not place MCA on any kind of standard anyway.”
The episode has heightened sensitivities around national symbols during the Merdeka period, with law‑enforcement agencies monitoring compliance with flag protocols. Police have not yet released any findings from the statements taken at the MCA headquarters, and no further legal action against the former employee has been announced. The incident underscores the political stakes attached to flag etiquette in Malaysia as the country approaches its independence celebrations.