After Akmal S Flag Threats Rafizi Recalls Umno S Keris Wielding Downfall

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Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli has warned young politicians against inflammatory rhetoric, citing Umno’s controversial “keris-wielding” incident as a cautionary tale.
ADSThe former economy minister’s reminder comes following a series of recent threats by Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh, over several flag gaffes recently.
Rafizi urged restraint in handling alleged flag violations, suggesting that many incidents involving inverted Malaysian flags could simply be honest mistakes rather than deliberate acts of disrespect.
“The flag isn’t wrong; it’s the humans who are excessive.
“During our youth, we might be able to make a name with socks, flags, then shoes, slippers and hats. When we’re older, people will laugh at us as politicians of socks, flags, shoes, slippers and hats,” he added.
Rafizi then invoked Umno’s past, referencing one of the now former party leaders’ history of brandishing the traditional Malay dagger during a political gathering.
HIshammuddin Hussein, the Umno Youth chief in 2007, brandishing the keris during the wing’s assembly“There was once a time when Umno Youth proudly brandished the keris during assemblies. That very keris became what people remembered and became one of the reasons Umno was rejected by some voters,” Rafizi reminded, in a video posted on X.
He was pointing to the then Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein’s infamous keris-waving incident during the Umno Youth meet in 2005.
Tipping point
The incident became a tipping point for the Chinese support base to shift from BN to the then Pakatan Harapan opposition.
The results of the 2008 general election prompted Hishammuddin to apologise to non-Malays for his provocative act.
One month after the election in 2008, Hishammuddin admitted that his action might have affected the party’s performance, where BN had only won 140 federal seats and lost many urban, Chinese-dominated seats to the emerging Harapan.
In the video today, Rafizi said that proper investigations should determine whether flag violations were intentional before making them public issues, warning that aggressive responses could discourage citizens, particularly non-Malays, from displaying flags altogether.
ADS“If I were a citizen, especially a non-Malay, and had made the effort into putting up a flag as my way of expressing love for the country, if I’m always targeted by Umno Youth, next time I’d rather not put up any flag at all,” he said, taking a veiled jab at Akmal.
This morning, police urged all quarters who plan to gather at a hardware store in Penang today, following an uproar over a flag blunder, to cancel their plans.
A huge Jalur Gemilang adorns a Penang hardware storeIn a brief statement, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail said the counter-rallies risked harming the safety of the local community.
DAP’s Penang branch, as well as lawyer Zaid Malek, have said that they will be at the store today to stand their ground against Akmal and his followers - who have been pressuring the store owner for hanging the Jalur Gemilang upside down.
DAP said it would be handing out flags to Akmal in an effort to counter hate with unity, while Zaid would also be advising the firebrand politician to seek peace.
Akmal had originally planned to “teach” the store owner how to put up the flag properly, but cancelled this after DAP put up a giant flag at the premises.
Flag blunder
The Penang incident caught public attention on Saturday after a viral 20-second video showed the hardware store owner carrying the flag upside down on a pole, while another man recorded him.
The owner, Feng Jin Zhen, later explained that he was measuring the length of an iron pole while hanging the national flag and did not notice that the flag was upside down.
He said he immediately corrected his mistake upon noticing.
Police had arrested Feng on Sunday to facilitate a probe, and the investigation papers were sent to prosecutors for consideration on Monday.
Khalid said today that police had also investigated those who disseminated the video of Feng and the flag. - Mkini

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