KUALA LUMPUR: The father of the boy who raised his middle finger to the crowd during the 65th National Day parade instead of putting up a "mini love" sign, has apologised for the flippant faux pas.
In a post on his Facebook, he requested that those who had recorded his son's action to immediately delete it and refrain from criticising his son.
"My son is a fan of firemen. He was very excited to be able to participate in the parade despite having to wake up at 5am. He was excited to be able to wear the fireman shirt the day before the event. As a father, I am proud of his courage to be part of the parade.
"I would like to humbly request for people to take down the video and for the criticisms to stop, as they have caused huge distress to my son," he posted.
In the clip that went viral, the boy was seen flipping the bird instead of showing a "mini love" (bringing the thumb and index fingers together) as he was supposed to do, during the boat parade for the Fire and Rescue Department.
A fireman who was standing next to him, noticed his eye-popping hand gesture and quickly covered his hands and told him to stop.
However, the crowd had already recorded his action by then.
Another video reportedly showed the child lying down on the boat due to exhaustion.