Instead of hitting out at the organisers of the controversial kangkung flash mob, Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir praised the opposition for its creativity with regard to the peddling of false perceptions.

"When it comes to creating or manipulating perception, the opposition wins hands down," he told a press conference yesterday.

Mukhriz said the country's leaders must also take some responsibility for their actions or utterances (which will result in negative reaction from the public).

"As a government, we have to be responsible for everything we say and do," he replied when asked to comment on the flash mob held in Alma, Bukit Mertajam last Friday, to protest against a series of price hikes in essential goods burdening the people.

However, unlike his comrades in Penang Umno, Mukhriz does not believe that one must retaliate in the same manner as one's opponents.

"We are not about to fight fire with fire or else we will have the whole country on fire," quipped the Ayer Hitam assemblyperson.

During the flash mob attended by a group of 15, a replica of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was fed with kangkung.

In a speech earlier, which has become the butt of jokes on social networking sites, Najib used the vegetable as an example to explain that the price of goods are determined by market forces.

The flash mob, organised by PKR's Machang Bubuk assemblyperson Lee Khai Loon, incensed pro-Najib supporters who held two rallies last Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, protesters unfurled a red banner with the words "Because of DAP leaders' mouth, May 13, 1969, happened...want some more?"

Umno supreme council member and Kepala Batas MP Reezal Merican Naina Merican has denied that his party was responsible for the banner, which irked DAP leaders like Lim Kit Siang and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Retaliating against the flash mob, pro-Najib protesters also stormed Lee's service centre on Sunday while two unknown men were attacked by several members of the group.

Lessons to be learnt

Asked about his views on Umno members threatening a repeat of the May 13 racial riots, Mukhriz said there are lessons to be learnt from history.

"We have to learn from that very terrible tragedy though it never happened again after that," he said, explaining why Umno members often invoke the ghost of the tragic day.

"We needed some shock treatment for us to realise this. Ideally, it shouldn't happen at all but it did happen and what is important is how do we learn from such a bad experience," he added.

But Mukhriz pointed out that the country was managed well after the incident, compared to neighbouring countries.

"When Umno reminds us of that tragedy, it is not to remind us of the racial animosity but more of what we have learnt from that incident and how important it is for us to get together, share power and live in peace," he said.

Meanwhile, Kedah executive councillor Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid said Najib's "mistake" in using kangkung to illustrate the market forces behind the cost of goods was a "gift" to the opposition.

He also congratulated the opposition, their agents and supporters, for the ability to tarnish the image of the country's leaders.

"But a responsible citizen should be able to see how good and capable our leader are to have managed such a multi-racial country, that they have been able to keep it peaceful, where the economy is also good," said the Ayer Hangat assemblyperson.

"Maybe we are going through a transformation period now. Kangkung is not the only issue that the opposition will use, there will be more.

"We just hope that the rakyat will just see this as a game the opposition plays," he added.