Vice President Jusuf Kalla urged Indonesian people to condone Malaysia after the country's SEA Games exhibitors published a guidebook showing red and white of the Indonesian flag upside down.
"Since we're not happy [with the incident], they have apologized and the government has accepted it. Everyone can make mistakes," said Kalla after opening the Indonesian Diaspora Global Summit in Jakarta, Monday.
Kalla's statement was conveyed in response to wrath and protests by Indonesian regarding the reversed flag incident despite the confession by Malaysia as the host on Sunday.
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"Yes, they've pled an apology, what else? It's been decided by Malaysia [for the book] to be withdrawn," he added.
Malaysia's Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on yesterday, had met Indonesia's Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi on a courtesy visit in Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to officially apologize for the incident while assuring he had also instructed the committee to stop publishing the book.
Khairy pledged to immediately deliver a copy of the revised version to the guests who attended the opening ceremony of the SEA Games at Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur on August 19, 2017.
Kalla then clarified that bilateral relation of both countries remains in good condition, because according to him, it was impossible for the Malaysian government to reverse the Indonesia's flag on purpose.
"It's a technical error, not a deliberate mistake," he said.
He then urged the mass media to prevent more public anger with soothing news.
"Hopefully, this would be the last. Each of us should be careful and the media are ought to scale down the tension, not to raise it," continued Kalla.
The similar thing was also stated by President Joko Widodo.
"We deeply regret such incident, but no need to be exaggerated. We're waiting for an official apology from Malaysian Government in this case since it concerns the pride of our nation, Indonesia," said Jokowi in Jakarta, Sunday.