What happened

Multiple organisations, including major newspapers, the Ministry of Education, and a foreign company at a Kuala Lumpur exhibition, published images of the Malaysian flag that were missing key elements like the crescent moon or had other inaccuracies. 

Many of these errors were traced to the use of AI-generated images, which failed to accurately reproduce the flag’s official design. 

The most prominent case involved Sin Chew Daily, which published a front-page illustration of the flag without the crescent moon, prompting immediate backlash, a royal rebuke, suspension of editors, and a police investigation. 

Similar mistakes appeared in the Education Ministry’s SPM exam report and at a trade expo, further fueling the controversy.

The errors sparked intense public criticism, police reports, and calls for boycotts, as the flag is a potent symbol of national sovereignty, unity, and the country’s Islamic identity.

According to some commentators, the errors also exacerbated racial and political tensions by fueling suspicions and performative patriotism.

Why it happened

AI tools lack contextual understanding and are often trained on incomplete or inaccurate data and can therefore produce flawed versions of the Jalur Gemilang. 

The rush to adopt AI for productivity and efficiency gains without adequate safeguards or cultural awareness exposed vulnerabilities in content production workflows.

Editorial and institutional lapses allowed the errors to be published without detection.