KUALA LUMPUR: The son of Malaysia's Sultan of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah has said that desecrating the country's national flag is the same as an attack on Malaysia's sovereignty. He called for the desecration of the national flag to be criminalized. “Whatever our political or ideological differences, our national symbols belong to all citizens. By allowing these symbols to be trashed, we are opening ourselves up to a host of consequences, including the possibility of inflaming passions, inviting tit-for-tat retaliation and so forth,” he began. “Hate and anger are some of the most powerful human emotions. When they take hold of society, they are difficult, and oftentimes impossible, to control. “Our national symbols should therefore be placed above the political fray,” Nazrin said at the launching of the “Brand Transformer” and Malaysia Brand Forum 2012 on Thursday. Raja Nazrin said the act of desecrating a flag “was more than one individual's statement of disrespect and criticism. “The act is deliberately designed to insult what many others treasure and consider a source of pride and joy. Whatever one may think of the rights of individuals to express themselves, the larger consequences of their actions cannot and should not be ignored,” he said. In September, Malaysia police arrested two students who took part in a National Day celebration earlier in the month where they displayed an alternative national flag, which sparked an uproar of anger by average Malaysians. The college students were arrested and are being investigated under Section 9 of the Sedition Act, police told Bikyamasr.com after the detentions. Malaysia's PKR Youth have denied a role in images that showed other youth activists pushing an alternative flag for the country recently that sparked anger nationwide. They said that while the flag was designed by one its youth leaders, it was not meant to be shown as an alternative for the country as a whole. “The flag was designed by our deputy youth information chief Mohd Najwan Halimi in 2007 but at that time, he was not a member nor held any post in the youth wing. “What happened during that year should not be associated with us," its chief Mohd Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin told reporters. He did argue that anger should not be made over the flag, as “there was nothing wrong in flying the flag" during the National Day celebrations in the country. “The most important part is that we are clear on our stand which is that we have no intention to change our national flag," he said. The “alternative flag" sparked much anger among the people, who are frustrated by the attempts of the youth to fly the different flag. “This is our flag. We are proud of this and it is a symbol of Malaysia and our success," shopkeeper Nur told Bikyamasr.com when asked if he supported the Bersih demonstration movement's calls for a flag change. “It just seems they want to get attention and while I agree with a lot of their ideas, this one is just stupid," he added. Many Malaysians have described the attempts to change the flag “shameful." Even Bersih supporters told Bikyamasr.com that this effort is taking away from their goals of change and electoral freedom for a country that has seen one-party rule since its independence more than five decades ago. Some supporters of Bersih, who are championing for changes to the electoral system in the country, had displayed a flag they had created to replace the “Jalur Gemilang" – Malaysia's current flag – and distributed flyers to the people to support their cause. Their actions can be seen in a video posted on YouTube. But it has not gone over well, with most Malaysians laughing the stunt off as an attempt to regain their headlining ability after months of near silence. With elections to be held before April next year, the country is beginning to see a massive increase in politicking and while the flag stunt is unlikely to go over well with most Malaysians, it has pushed the Bersih demonstrators back into the spotlight, where they hope to continue their push for greater electoral freedom.
