Hackers Attack Malaysian Websites in Revenge Over Upside-Down Indonesian Flag
Jakarta. Hackers reportedly attacked Malaysian websites in response to the Indonesian national flag having been printed upside down in the official program of this year's South East Asian Games, hosted by Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian newspaper The Star Online said the hackers, presumably Indonesians, posted the offending picture of the upside-down flag on its homepage, accompanied by the text, in red and white, "Bendera Negaraku Bukanlah Mainan," or "My country's flag is not your plaything."
The Indonesian patriotic song "Tanah Air Beta" also plays when the homepage is accessed.
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo earlier expressed his disappointment with the Games organizers for their blunder.
"It is extremely unfortunate that a neighboring country can do something like that," Gatot said in West Jakarta on Sunday (20/08).
However, he said the Malaysian government has issued a formal apology. This has been confirmed by Indonesia's ambassador in Kuala Lumpur.
Gatot said he believes the misprint was not intentional and that Indonesians should give Malaysia the benefit of the doubt.
"We have to think positively. The Games committee has already apologized, which means the mistake was not intentional," Gatot said.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla meanwhile also said that the Indonesian government had accepted the Malaysian government's apology. He added that incident was a clerical error and not deliberate.
"What more do you want when they've already apologized?" Kalla said in Jakarta on Monday. He added that such mistakes can easily occur.
"It was a clerical error, not a deliberate one. The Malaysian government did not intentionally do it. The printer made the mistake," Kalla said.
Nevertheless, he urged the Malaysian government to be more careful in the future and called on the media not to stoke more fires over the incident.
"The press should try to reduce tension [between the two countries], not add to it," he said.
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