PUCHONG: Shocked and saddened by the burning of Malaysian flags by fanatical supporters of Team Indonesia, singer Afgansyah Reza has called for sanity to prevail in his home country now that the “blunder in a booklet” has been resolved.
The 28-year-old Indonesian crooner, better known as Afgan, believes it is time for supporters of Team Indonesia and Malaysia to display the sportsmanship shown by their athletes, as it is counter-productive to despise each other.
“I’ve lived in Malaysia for sometime, and I’ve made friends with Malaysians, too. I don’t believe that the mistake made in the Sea Games 2017 booklet was intentional, so Team Indonesia fans should be forgiving,” he said in a recent interview.
Afgan, who has studied in Malaysia, has never encountered “unfriendly” Malaysians, and describes his “second home” as a very friendly place with caring hosts.
“I’ve grown especially close to Malaysian musicians and singers, and they’re all polite, courteous and friendly to me. It’s thus very unfair for we Indonesians to stereotype Malaysians as hostile people.”
The angry mobs in Jakarta were provoked by a mistake made by the publishers of the official Sea Games 2017 booklet which showed the Indonesian flag upside down.
The Malaysian government subsequently apologised to Indonesia for the blunder, and both countries have deemed the issue resolved. The booklet has also been reprinted with corrections.
Afgan will be performing at Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam on Oct 6 with Indonesian rock group Ungu, in a concert themed Konsert Terunggul Afgan & Ungu, produced by Popcorn Studio.