Malaysian police probe flags of China on dragon puppet at Johor parade

A cultural row has reignited in Malaysia after police began an investigation over a giant dragon puppet decorated with the flags of the Southeast Asian country and China at an event organised by a Chinese association in Johor.

Police in Johor’s Muar district said that their officers spotted the dragon puppet during a procession on Saturday night.

“Based on monitoring during the procession, it was found that the dragon replica was decorated with [the] Jalur Gemilang on the right side of its body and the left side featured the flag of China,” district police chief Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz, who was referring to the name of the Malaysian flag, was quoted as saying on Sunday by national newswire Bernama.

Police are checking for any infringement of public order, assembly laws or a ban on the display of national emblems of other countries.

The event was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the Muar Tiong Hua Association, which has yet to comment on the procession.

It comes as many among the Malay-Muslim majority in Malaysia become more intransigent on issues of culture and ethnic identity amid China’s rising economic and cultural clout in the country of 34 million people with a sizeable Chinese minority.