The Macau Customs Service confirmed in a statement yesterday that its staff mistakenly raised the national flag upside down at the Coloane Pier, contradicting its previous claim that online photos showing the national flag raised upside down there – circulated on the Internet early this month – were parody photos.
On July 3, officers of the Macau Customs Service mistakenly raised the national flag upside down on the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal at 7:10 a.m., but the mistake was not rectified until 12:10 p.m. The Macau Customs Service admitted on that day that it was due to “negligence” by the officers in charge.
On July 4, photos of the national flag being flown upside down at the Coloane Pier circulated on the Internet. On the same day, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak told reporters that the police had discovered what appeared to be online photos “parodying” the July 3 incident. According to Wong, some netizens were believed to have created pictures by cropping photos of the flag raised upside down on the ferry terminal and then pasting them onto pictures taken of other locations. Wong did not mention Coloane Pier.
Yesterday’s statement said that an investigation by the Judiciary Police (PJ) concluded that the online photos showing the national flag raised upside down at the Coloane Pier were not digitally made – instead the photos were genuine. The Customs Service confirmed – according to the PJ’s investigation – that the photos showed the national flag being flown upside down, an incident which occurred before July 4, the statement said.
The statement said that the Customs Service mistakenly concluded that the online photos were parody photos because it confirmed that its officers raised the national flag correctly at the Coloane Pier on July 4. Consequently, the Customs Service on July 4 requested the Judiciary Police to investigate the case, the statement said.
The Customs Service yesterday “deeply” apologised for passing the erroneous information to its superiors and the media on July, without thoroughly checking what had actually happened concerning the online photos, the statement said.
The statement said that the Customs Service has launched disciplinary proceedings against the officers in charge.
The statement said that the Customs Service would strengthen the training of its officers, with the aim of ensuring that such an incident would not happen again.
Meanwhile, Wong said yesterday that it was unacceptable that the Customs Service had repeatedly made such mistakes in which its officers incorrectly raised the national flag, according to a statement from the Secretariat for Security (GSS) yesterday.
The statement also quoted Wong as saying it was unacceptable for the Customs Service to cause confusion when it released the wrong information to the public.
The Macau Basic Law’s Annex 3 lists a total of 11 national laws which are in force in Macau, including the national flag law and national emblem law.
Local Law 5/1999, which regulates the use of national symbols in Macau, states that the nation’s symbols – the national flag, national emblem and national anthem – are to be respected and protected.
The law came into force on the establishment day of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) on December 20, 1999.
According to Article 9 of the law, blatant insults to a national symbol are punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.
This undated photo taken from the Internet shows the national flag on the Coloane Pier raised upside down.
