Participants wave the Malaysian flag during a National Day rehearsal in Putrajaya August 29, 2019. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUCHING, Sept 30 — Police have called in eight individuals to give their statements in connection to a video recording which went viral showing a group of people who refused to stand up when the national anthem Negaraku was played at an event here.

However, said Sarawak Police Deputy Commissioner Datuk Dev Kumar, none of them were detained after their statements were recorded.

He added that police received a report of the incident this afternoon.

“Based on the report, police started an investigation under Section 8 (3) of the National Anthem Act 1968,” he told Bernama today.

According to a report in a local portal, the action by the individuals who were believed to be members of the Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) group was a show of protest over the Federal government allegedly unkept promises to the state.

The 22-second video was believed to have been recorded at a dinner event last week before it was uploaded on to Facebook and shared on more than 4,000 accounts. — Bernama