'Totally unacceptable': Fans criticised for disrespecting Singapore flag after Malaysia's Asean Championship exit

When Singapore secured a spot in the Asean Championship semi-finals after drawing with Malaysia on Dec 20, not all fans present at the match were thrilled at the result.

A particular group believed to be supporters of Malaysia's football team seemingly took a photo after the match while holding Singapore's flag upside down.

Various versions of the picture were shared across social media platforms and drew significant criticism from Singaporeans.

One such picture posted to TikTok on Dec 21 shows about 30 to 40 people posing while holding two Singapore flags upside down.

A zoomed-in version of the same photo was also posted on Reddit. It shows multiple men flashing their middle fingers next to the flag.

A banner next to the flags, also being held upside down, reads "Singapore".

Many Singaporean netizens expressed their anger, stating that the photo was disrespectful to Singapore and its national flag.

One such netizen commented: "Any citizen that speaks negatively or acts this way doesn't deserve to live in their own country. Never play with a country's flag that way."

"Such disgrace and disrespect. Totally unacceptable."

Others highlighted that beyond the disrespect, such actions from the alleged Malaysian fans lacked sportsmanship and tarnished their country's image.

"I shall not waste my time with people like this who just give their country a bad name by behaving so childishly," wrote one such commentor.

One Redditor, who was purportedly at the match, countered that the "huge majority of the Malaysian fans are awesome".

Another added that these fans "are not representative of the general Malaysian football fan population".

Additionally, some commentors highlighted that the aggression was unnecessary as Malaysia's national football team has progressed further in previous tournaments.

Malaysia’s football team was eliminated from the Asean Championship after finishing third in Group A, with their only victory in the tournament coming against Timor-Leste.

Singapore is set to face Vietnam in the first leg of the Championship's semi-final at Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday (26 Dec).

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com