Man Faces Jail For Flag Pants Joke

A Malaysian business manager is facing a possible five-year jail term for suggesting that his and his wife's underwear could be used as a substitute for Indonesia's flag.

He wishes. If something bad happens to a state leader they'd have to wear then at half-mast, and he'd be in for a great weekend.

Broderick Chin was to be formally charged by prosecutors, after employees complained to police that he insulted the Indonesian flag. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a country where insulting the flag would get you a prison term. Over here you can do what you like. We don't just say the Union Jack is like pants, you can actually buy boxer shorts with the flag on then. At one point in the 90s we used the Union Jack as the only thing stopping Geri Halliwell being naked.

Insulting state symbols carry a maximum five years in prison under Indonesian law. That could never work over here. Our jails would be full of people who did that thing where you fold a £5 and a £10 note and make the face of John McEnroe.

I don't think this guy was even that offensive about it. Here's what happened. His employees complained they could not find a red-and-white Indonesian flag to hoist in the company's premises on Independence Day. Chin said: "In that case, just use my underpants. I have red underpants and my wife has white ones."

And that's probably when his wife looked over to him and said, "Erm, I mean to say. I just did a load of washing. We both now have pink ones."

>Read the source story