Reni Marlinawati, who is the de facto leader of Indonesian political party Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, said the blunder had affected the main purpose of the event, which was to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
“The Malaysian government must take stern action over this incident, because the people of Indonesia are upset with it,” she was quoted as saying by Kompas.com.
Reni also claimed that Indonesians were already dissatisfied with the way their people working in Malaysia were treated by the Malaysian government.
“Don’t let the upside-down flag issue spark further anger among the Indonesians who are already upset over various other incidents.”
She said she hoped the flag blunder would not affect the performance of Indonesian athletes at the ongoing SEA Games.
The issue arose during the opening ceremony on Saturday when Indonesian Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi sent out a message on Twitter expressing his shock and disappointment at seeing the Indonesian flag printed upside down in the event’s official souvenir booklet.
“It was a good opening ceremony, but spoiled by this fatal negligence,” he tweeted, tagging his Malaysian counterpart, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Khairy quickly responded, apologising for the error and explaining that no malice had been intended.
Since then, Wisma Putra, has weighed in with an official apology to the Indonesian government on the matter.