Breaking News: Upside-Down Flag At Session/Magistrate Court of Segamat!

The district of Segamat flag was flown upside down in front of the Session/Magistrate Court of Segamat, 19th Dec, 2017.

Driving past the Session/Magistrate Court of Segamat earlier today, I was shocked to see another district flag being flown upside-down!

Please read:

1. Why Was the Johor Flag Flown Upside Down at the Desaru Tunamaya?
2. Flag Of Muar Flown Upside-Down At Sime Darby Property’s Bandar Universiti Pagoh
3. Mistakes In Designs Of Vertical Flags Of Johor

This time it is the Segamat district flag which was flown upside-down in the area of the government building.

The worst thing is, the upside-down flag was flown in front of the court itself!

The district of Segamat’s flag bears a crescent and star as symbols representing the Sultan of Johor and the religion of Islam.

Hence, flying the flag upside-down is a sign of disrespect not only to the district of Segamat, but also to the religion of Islam, the Sultan of Johor and the state of Johor.

I am very sad that such grave mistake regarding such a serious matter happens in the area of a court building.

It is as if the government authority does not bother to make sure that its staffs understand how to fly flags in the proper manner and follow the flag protocols.

This is a very serious matter and I’m urging the authorities to be more serious about flag protocols.

Please click here for photos for larger images.

 

 

Why Was the Johor Flag Flown Upside Down at the Desaru Tunamaya?

Yesterday, as we drove in front of Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort I saw something that really shocked me.

I just can’t believe my eyes when I saw the flag of the state of Johor being waved upside down in front of the building.

Flag of Johor flown upside down at Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort

State flags are patriotic symbols of the state, therefore they must never be flown upside down.

By flying the flag of Johor upside down, Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort is not only disrespecting the state of Johor but also belittling Islam as the religion of the State, the DYMM Sultan of Johor and the Johor Royal Institution because the white crescent and star represent Islam and the sovereignty of the Sultan of Johor.

When the flag is flown upside down, the crescent and star are placed in the lower part of the flag, which is wrong because the are supposed to be at the upper part of the flag as it symbolises the fact that the Sultan is the supreme leader of the state and that Islam is the religion of the state.

The upside down flag is belittling the position of the Sultan of Johor and Islam as the supreme leader and religion of the state respectively, hence, it is a humiliation to the Johor Royal Institution and Islam.

The question is, was the flag accidentally flown upside down, or did the resort or the staff purposely did it?

Both ways are wrong for even if it was an accident, it’s still wrong because the company must understand that the flag is an important symbol of the sovereign state which must be respected, therefore it should be taken seriously.

And worse if it is purposely done, for it symbolises bad intention to humiliate, belittle and a show of disrespect towards the Johor Royal Institution and Islam as the religion of the state.

Therefore, the Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort must issue an official apology to the Sultan of Johor and the government of Johor.

Flag of Johor flown upside down at Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort

Flag of Johor flown upside down at Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort

Flag of Johor flown upside down at Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort

Flag of Johor flown upside down at Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort

Mistakes In Designs Of Vertical Flags Of Johor

The districts of Johor, Malaysia were given their own flags on the 3rd March of 2015, and since then the districts flags are proudly seen waving in their respective districts.

All of the ten district flags come in two versions, horizontal and vertical.

The horizontal flags are the ones that we usually see either hoisted from poles or hung against the walls, fences and others.

(Please click here to learn more about the horizontal flags of the districts if Johor)

The vertical flags are the flags that are usually hoisted from a crossbar, either on lamp posts or on walls.

Below are the vertical flags of the districts of Johor:

 

Batu Pahat

Tangkak

Segamat

Pontian

Muar

Mersing

Kulai

Kota Tinggi

Kluang

Johor Bahru

 

But it is very unfortunate that when it comes to the districts of Johor vertical flags, I saw mistakes in the designs of some of the flags hung around the districts that I had visited.

One of the common mistakes is converting the design of the horizontal flag into a vertical flag by just rotating the horizontal flag and “stretching its background”.

I first realised these mistakes during my visit to Felda Bukit Ramun, and since then, I like to observe vertical district flags whenever I travel around Johor; and I found that there are mistakes in designs of other vertical flags hung in other places too, including in Batu Pahat which I visited a few day ago.

Please click the photos for larger images:

  

The mistakes in the design of the vertical district flags of Muar, Batu Pahat, Kluang, Mersing and Kota Tinggi flags at Felda Bukit Ramun in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

The mistakes in the design of the vertical district flags of Kulai, Johor Bahru, Pontian, Segamat, and Tangkak flags at Felda Bukit Ramun in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

From my observation as I travel around Johor, below are the common mistakes in the designs of the vertical flags of the districts of Johor:

The mistake in the design of the flag of Tangkak

The mistake in the design of the flag of Segamat

The mistake in the design of the flag of Pontian

The mistake in the design of the flag of Muar

The mistake in the design of the flag of Mersing

The mistake in the design of the flag of Kulai

The mistake in the design of the flag of Kota Tinggi

The mistake in the design of the flag of Kluang

The mistake in the design of the flag of Johor Bahru

The mistake in the design of the flag of Batu Pahat

 

Maybe some people are not bothered by these mistakes; and may consider them as little mistakes but for me this is a serious problem because of the importance and the significance of the flags as part of our love, respect and loyalty to the state of Johor.

Apart from that, it also can ruin the meaning and significance in the designs of the district flags.

The best example is the flag of Tangkak, where the blue triangle represents the Mount Ledang; but when the design of the horizontal flag is just rotated to turn it into a vertical flag, the triangle which represents the Mount Ledang is also rotated thus, it doesn’t represent the shape of a mountain anymore.

And that is why in the actual design of the vertical flag of Tangkak, the triangle is cropped at the sides so that the triangle shall remains as a symbol of a mountain.

Please click the photos for larger images:

 

The integral aspects of the designs are the crescent and star, and the core colour which must be placed in the right positions of the flags.

The crescent and star in the district flags represent Islam as the religion of the state of Johor, hence they must be placed at the top of the flag or in the central part of the designs; and not at the lower part of the flags as in some of the “faulty” district flags of Kota Tinggi, Mersing and Muar that I came across.

Another mistake that people made when converting a horizontal district flag to a vertical flag is to place the center point of the orthogonally divided flag exactly in the middle of the flag, which what happens in the flags of Muar and Kulai.

And in the flag of Muar, they made the first and fourth quarters black, second quarter yellow with a red crescent and star, and the third quarter red with a white crescent and star.

The real flag has the first quarter red with a white crescent and star, the second and third quarters black, and the fourth yellow with a red crescent and star.

In the flag of Kulai they also made the first and fourth quarters blue, and the second and third quarters red instead of the first and fourth quarters red, and the second and third quarters blue.

Flags, A poem By Ahmad Ali Karim

The beauty and colours,
Of numerous flags,
Cheering our days,
On poles and bags.

Colourful flags,
In unique designs,
In awesome shapes,
Gleaming in sunshine.

Flags are symbols, 
Used by all,
Countries and states,
As well as football.

Splendid Sydney’s International Food Festival’s Edible Flags

The British flag consists of scones, cream and jam. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

These splendid edible flags were created by a team of chefs on behalf of the WHYBIN\TBWA advertising agency for the Sydney’s International Food Festival. 

And each of them were made entirely from the ingredients native to their countries.

The flags look very tasty especially the British flag which was created using scones, cream and jam.

Please click the photo for a larger image:

The British flag consists of scones, cream and jam. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

This Spanish flag is made up of chorizo and yellow rice. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

Turkey’s flag is made from cubes of Turkish Delight, decorated with the crescent moon and star. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival

To portray Brazil at the Sydney International Food Festival, employees used a banana leaf, lime slices, pineapple and passion fruit. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

To form the national flag for Lebanon, a mix of tomato salad, flatbread and parsley was put together (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

Tuna Nigiri was used for the Japanese flag (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

Feta cheese and olives were used to portray the Greek flag – which is normally light blue and white stripes, but we accept that’s hard to replicate with food. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

America’s image consists of hot dogs, mustard and ketchup. The stars are dots of mustard on a blue dish. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

Italy, producer of some of the world’s best cuisine, was represented by basil, pasta and cherry tomatoes. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

To make up the Thai flag, sweet chili sauce, shredded coconut and blue swimmer crab were used. (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

Blue cheese, Brie and grapes were used in the national flag for France (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)

South Korea featured sushi rolls and two dipping sauces in their flag (WHYBIN\TBWA/Sydney International Food Festival)