KUCHING, July 25: Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) has lodged a police report over the display of Sarawak’s old flag from 1963 which the members were prohibited from doing during Sarawak Independence Day.
Its president Lina Soo and chairman Buln Ribos filed the report at the Padungan police yesterday (July 24) after a visit to seek clarification from the police if there was any prohibition on the possession and display of the 1963 Sarawak flag.
“Two police officers on duty said that the historical flags of July 22, 1963 flying along Padungan do not constitute any offence and there is no law to prohibit the display of these flags,” she said in a statement today.
The old Sarawak flag, she emphasised, was registered under the Flag and Emblem Ordinance, and was Sarawak’s national flag from 1946 to 1973 for 27 years.
Soo said plainclothes officers had advised her to stop holding a meeting cum press conference with the media at the Kuching Waterfront on July 22 in commemoration of Sarawak Independence Day.
“I was also not allowed to pose for a photo by the Sarawak River with the DUN (State Legislative Assembly) complex in the background.
“When I wanted to take out the July 22 1963 flag (to be displayed for a photograph), the same officer warned me not to do so,” she explained.
Even though press members did manage the take photo of their gathering, Soo, however said that it was without the flag which was of significance to the occasion of July 22, 1963 when Sarawak gained administrative self-governance under its first Chief Minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan.
In her statement that day, Soo had highlighted three 722 demands, namely an independence referendum, that the Sarawak gazette notification for public holiday remain as ‘Sarawak Independence Day’ and calling for Sarawak’s first Chief Minister Stephen Kalong Ningkan be awarded the posthumous title of ‘Tun’.
Soo and Buln thanked the police for their attention and assistance on clarification of the flag issue.—DayakDaily
