Largest flag fails to flutter

Dyah Apsari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Enduring the heat on a sunny Wednesday, hundreds of people crowded near the new Block A of Tanah Abang's textile market in Central Jakarta and gazed up the wall, waiting for an event expected to put the area into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Around 50 rock climbers from Greater Jakarta, Lampung and Bandung, slowly opened the bundle; a red-and-white flag weighing 1.3 tons from the top of the building, while the Tarakanita High School band played an overture.

However, excitement turned into disappointment and sighs were heard as the 156-meter-by-50 meter flag -- that was to be measured by the Indonesian Records Museum and expected to break the earlier record for the largest flag made by Brazil -- unexpectedly tore apart.

"We were surprised by the incident. I guess the cloth and thread aren't strong enough to handle the high pressure of the wind ... we will replace it with a new one within few days," said Djan Faridz, a director of Tanah Abang development company PT Priamanaya Djan International, which organized the event.

The flag was made from 300 rolls of cloth and sewn by 24 tailors in a total of 89 hours.

Djan said the company planned to add more tailors to its workforce and use higher quality thread and cloth for the new flag.