Editor's note: Malaysiakini has obtained permission to republish this article, which first appeared here.

COMMENT | Phineas T Barnum was the owner of a very popular circus. He once said, “Any publicity, whether good or bad, is good publicity”. Barnum’s point was simple: “Nothing is worse than not being talked about”.

You might wonder why I quote the owner of a circus. Do you not think that what is happening in Malaysia is nothing more than a huge circus - one that even Barnum himself would have envied?

Feeding the beast

What you focus on, grows: you nourish it with your attention.

This is the reason why the ancient proverb, “See no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil” is so great a truism. It is grounded upon five millennia of public relations research.

If you apply the Barnum maxim to the tragic national situation, you realise that what you have suspected all along, is true.

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad assiduously practises the Barnum principle. Constantly making controversial jibes, he invites you to pay attention to him.

Now, another former prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak, seems to be...