COMMENT | Dr Akmal Saleh's threat to go on the rampage so that he can “teach” non-Malay shopkeepers a lesson has very little to do with upside-down flags or patriotism. It is about the art of distraction and about manipulating the public.

Holding Malaysia to ransom and threatening violence are unacceptable. The Umno-Baru Youth leader's race-baiting and threats to conduct a flag-inspection exercise caused widespread fear and panic. Malaysians feared the worst, tourists stayed away, and businesses closed early.

Akmal's one-man battle against KK Mart's owners over wrongly printed socks last year was an unsettling period of fire-bombs and attacks on individuals.

Eighteen months later, Akmal returned with a vengeance, but today, if we were to take away the “Akmal factor”, what would we be reading in the newspapers, or viewing on television or hearing on the radio?