Its chairman, Soon Boon Hua, said that the act of waving the flag of another country was never planned in the existing programme itinerary prepared by the organisers.
"As the party organising the event, we would like to apologise for the incident and will look into all aspects that need to be improved to ensure the success of the programme (in the future)," he said in a post on the association's Facebook page today.
Soon explained that the International Guan Gong Cultural Festival celebration has been an annual event celebrated for many years and has been organised in several states from Johor to Penang, with Perak being one of the states involved.
He added that during each of these celebrations across different states, the organisers had always raised the Malaysian flag, the Jalur Gemilang, as a symbol of patriotism, and the parade in Teluk Intan, Perak, was no exception.
A video of a group of participants waving China flags during the festival has gone viral on social media since yesterday.
-- BERNAMA
