Sin Chew Daily Apologises For Printing Jalur Gemilang Without Crescent Moon
The yellow crescent moon on the Malaysian flag represents Islam, the official religion of the country.
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Local Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily expressed their regret for publishing an incorrect depiction of Malaysia’s national flag, the “Jalur Gemilang” on the front page of yesterday’s (15 April) edition of the paper.
The flag, which has 14 alternating red and white horizontal stripes, a blue canton in the top left, and a yellow star with 14 points was missing an important symbol which symbolises Islam: the yellow crescent moon.
According to Free Malaysia Today, the daily attributed the unintentional error to a “technical mistake”.
It said the digital version of the illustration was immediately amended, and the correct version will be republished in today’s (16 April) print.
“We feel regret and disappointment over the mistake, and on behalf of all Sin Chew’s staff we apologise to all Malaysians,” the statement said.
The gaffe could not have happened at a worse time as China’s president Xi Jinping arrived in Malaysia yesterday for a three-day visit at the invitation of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim.
Netizens and an academic shared their criticism online
Social media users were extremely quick to point out the missing crescent moon, sharing their criticism of the newspaper without mercy.
Many called for a suspension of the news daily’s permit and issuing them a fine for the mistake, as they believe that the missing crescent moon was intentional.
Some also warned about using AI to generate images, and how important it is to check the images thoroughly before publishing them on irreversible media such as newspapers.
Prof Datuk Dr Ahmad Murad Merican, a professor of Social and Intellectual History at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) did not care much for an apology, demanding an investigation be carried out regardless.
He claimed that the error was a form of anti-national sentiment, as reported by Malaysia Gazette.
“To the editor of Sin Chew Daily, where is your loyalty to the country? Never mind the apology, this is subversive and treasonous. This newspaper must be banned. Is this the image of Chinese journalism in Malaysia? Anti-national sentiment,” Ahmad Murad said.
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