The Indonesian Flag is Upside Down at the Pre Opening Ceremony of the 2023 SEA Games

CNN Indonesia

Friday, 05 May 2023 19:53 WIB

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

The Indonesian flag is upside down during the opening ceremony SEA Games 2023 at Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday (5/5).

Quoted from Antara, this moment occurred when one of the local Cambodian singers performed accompanied by dancers carrying the flags of the 11 countries participating in the 2023 SEA Games, including Indonesia.

Ironically, the dancers carrying the Indonesian flag were all upside down, becoming like the Polish flag. So far there is no further information about the incident.

This is not the first time the Indonesian flag has been turned upside down at the biggest biennial sporting event in Southeast Asia.

A similar case occurred at the XXIX/2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The difference is that the incident occurred in the activity guidebook.

The highlight of the 2023 SEA Games opening ceremony will officially take place at 19:00 WIB. However, a series of events started in the afternoon by presenting various performances, including art that showed Cambodian identity as the host.

The Cambodian people were very enthusiastic to witness the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games. Since noon they came to the location of the opening ceremony.

Even traffic jams occur which make some people who use public transportation choose to go down on foot with a distance of about 2 km to the location of the opening ceremony.

The people of Cambodia want to be a part of history because this is the first time hosting the biggest sporting event in Southeast Asia.

The opening ceremony will be attended by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and other dignitaries. The 2023 SEA Games take place after Cambodia has been preparing for seven years for the development of infrastructure and improvement of athletes, as well as others.

One of the highlight of the opening ceremony of the 2023 SEA Games is the demonstration of the participating countries.

For Indonesia, female swimmer Flairene Candrea Wonomiharjo has a great opportunity to lead the Homeland contingent by carrying the Red and White flag at the parade.

Flairene will be in the front row leading around 45 people who are representatives of 25 athletes and officials, as well as 15 representatives of the CdM Team and the Executive Committee of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (NOC Indonesia).

(jun/ptr)