Sivamurugan Pandian said, as a matter of fact, the youth and sports minister’s move to meet his Indonesian counterpart Imam Nahrawi immediately and apologise for the incident should be praised.
“He was also quick to respond and did not deflect the issue. That will counter any criticism towards him,” he told FMT.
Sivamurugan was asked to comment on whether the Indonesian flag blunder would damage Khairy’s standing in the political scene locally or regionally.
Foreign relations analyst Oh Ei Sun was of the view that the flag blunder was a small matter and would not damage relations between the two countries.
“Oversights like this happen. The point is not to let them be magnified out of proportion, hence the quick reaction by Khairy and Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
“I really don’t see any long-lasting effect,” he said.
On whether the issue would affect Khairy’s standing, he repeated his earlier comment that the episode was a “small matter”.
Khairy has stopped further distribution of the souvenir booklet on the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 2017 and ordered fresh copies to be printed with the correction done.
In the original booklet, the Indonesian flag was printed upside down, with the white strip on top and red strip at the bottom, resembling the Polish flag.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo also weighed in on the matter, saying that while the flag blunder was regrettable, the issue should not be blown out of proportion.