Two Johor Factories Caught Flying Jalur Gemilang Upside Down Within Days Of Each Other

Two factories in Johor were caught flying the Jalur Gemilang upside down within days of each other, one resulting in arrests and the other in a stop-business order over an unrelated licensing issue.

In Brief

Two Johor factories were caught flying the Jalur Gemilang upside down within days of each other, resulting in closures, arrests, and warnings.
The incidents sparked widespread online reactions, with netizens calling it a recurring "31 Ogos sickness" and criticising slow enforcement every National Day.

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Two factories in Johor were found flying the Jalur Gemilang upside down within days of each other, resulting in arrests in one case and a stop-business order in the other.

The first incident occurred at a factory in the i-Park Indahpura industrial estate in Kulai.

The Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu) ordered the factory to shut down, citing By-Law 49(2) on the power to close premises and By-Law 45(1) on flag hoisting.

Johor housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said the closure would stand until the company’s management came forward to explain.

The following day, police made two arrests. Kulai police chief Assistant Commissioner Tan Seng Lee said police detained a 34-year-old Nepali security guard and a 48-year-old local woman at 10.45 am after images of the inverted flags circulated widely on social media.

Tan said the guard is believed to have installed the flags, while the woman allegedly handed them to him and instructed him to put them up. Police seized both flags along with a work schedule.

Neither suspect has a prior criminal record, and both tested negative for drugs. They have been remanded for four days, until Friday (21 August).

The case is being investigated under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1963, which carries a fine of up to RM20,000, imprisonment of up to three years, or both upon conviction, and the Minor Offences Act 1955.

Investigators are also looking at Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for public mischief, which provides for a maximum two-year jail term, a fine, or both; Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which carries a fine of up to RM50,000, up to one year’s imprisonment, or both; and immigration-related provisions.

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A Second Case In Iskandar Puteri

A second, unrelated incident surfaced a day later at a premises in Taman Perindustrian SILC, Iskandar Puteri.

The Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP) said it inspected the site after Kota Iskandar assemblyman Datuk Pandak Ahmad raised the matter on social media.

MBIP confirmed both the Jalur Gemilang and the Johor state flag had been displayed inverted. The owner was issued a warning and told to correct the flags immediately.

Further checks found the premises had no valid MBIP business licence. A stop-business notice was issued, along with a compound for displaying an advertising signboard without a licence.

Foreign workers at the site were taken to the district police headquarters to verify their work permit status.

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Cases Drew Ire From Netizens

The back-to-back incidents drew hundreds of reactions on Threads.

One commenter suggested the reaction was partly driven by political frustration following Barisan Nasional’s (BN) win in the Johor state election, rather than concern over the flag itself.

Another commenter said similar incidents had occurred under previous administrations, but had not drawn the same public attention.

A separate commenter described it as an annual problem, calling it the “31 August sickness” that recurs around National Day, and said enforcement had been slow to respond each time.

Another commenter cited Metallica’s 2013 Malaysia concert, where the band displayed the Jalur Gemilang correctly on stage, as an example of proper flag handling.

@xpdcfighterhhkdo07 #xpdckitapengyu #metallica #tiktokmalaysia #tiktokindonesia #tiktokbrunei #tiktoksingapore @tuan_rockers ♬ original sound – Fighter Xpdc KpY – Fighter Xpdc KPY