Bukit Aman federal police Special Branch director Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the investigation was to identify the cause.
“Perhaps, it was a technical error. However, we are investigating this matter and will take action as the incident should not have happened.
“We don’t want our neighbouring country, Indonesia, to feel hurt, so we need to take measures to ensure this does not recur in future.”
He spoke to reporters after witnessing the handing-over of duties to the new Johor police chief Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd by his predecessor, Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd, who will be the new federal police Criminal Investigation Department director.
Fuzi said Malaysia-Indonesia relations were very important, with Indonesia also participating in the ongoing biennial SEA Games (KL2017).
The upside-down image of the red-and-white Indonesia flag in the souvenir book became viral on social websites, besides drawing criticism from various quarters, including the republic’s Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, who described the error as “very painful”.
His Malaysian counterpart, Khairy Jamaluddin, has issued an apology, while also stressing that the error was unintentional.
In PUTRAJAYA, the foreign affairs ministry extended an apology to the government and its people over the publication of the incident.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman, in a statement today, said: “On behalf of the government of Malaysia, the ministry of foreign affairs would like to express regret for the inadvertent error made by the Malaysian Organising Committee (Masoc) for the wrong publication of the Indonesian flag in the official souvenir booklet of the opening ceremony of the 29th SEA Games held yesterday.
“In this regard, we wish to assure the government of the Republic of Indonesia that all measures have been taken to address this unfortunate situation.”
Anifah added that Malaysia placed importance on its close and deeply-rooted fraternal relations with Indonesia.
“Indeed, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations this year is an occasion that we have invested in to rededicate ourselves to our shared values, culture and destiny.
“It is in this spirit that we hope and believe that our two countries will continue to interact closely together and in doing so, strengthen the ties between us and within the region as a whole.”
Earlier in JAKARTA, President Joko Widodo called on all parties not to blow the issue out of proportion.
The online media today quoted the Indonesian president as saying that although the matter was regrettable, people in the country should not overplay the issue.
“Don’t exaggerate it,” he said, as quoted by Detik.com
He said the Malaysian government, however, should formally apologise to Indonesia.