COMMENT | With the holding and sharpening of swords in videos that can be seen as provocative incitement, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has taken a page from the party’s past in stoking racial issues.

It is his gambit to seek a calculated advantage in national politics.

A Russia-trained medical doctor by profession, Akmal is supposed to follow the Hippocratic Oath not to cause harm to society. Instead, the disease of dehumanising racialised politics implicitly threatening others has taken root (again).

As a doctor used to seeing pain, he appears unable to appreciate the damage he is doing.

So far, there have been three violent incidents against KK Mart, which Akmal continues to target despite calls by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and fellow party/government leaders to stop.

Instead, Akmal has carried on, smiling as his rhetoric leaves few smiles.