Losing the battle for the youth: Adam Adli and SMM 2, Najib and Umno 0

Most governments of the world strive to start the year with a bang. It is always good sense to make the rakyat or populace feel attuned, united and supportive of their leaders. But UMNO - pretty as she is - went a step further. At a late-night protest consisting of some 100 students in Tanjong Malim, the police showed their worst colors by brutally beating the youths in a bid to save Prime Minister Najib Razak embarrassment.

However, the roughneck tactics blew up in the faces of both Najib and his UMNO party. The Malaysian people especially the youth also want an explanation why one of the protesters - Safwan Anang - was beaten up by an estimated eight policeman and Special Branch officers before he was taken away by his colleagues to the Slim River Hospital. There, Safwan fell into a coma and suffered a broken cheekbone before gaining consciousness.

The unnecessary virulence with which the police went after the students underscored the tension felt by the UMNO elite and Najib personally at the prospect of loss of power of the federal government. But the harder they hit, the worse it is for UMNO-BN.

'Coma' attack and last week's flag incident

The students had gathered at the front of the Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris to protest the draconian University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971, as well as demand that the UPSI board dropped disciplinary charges against popular student leader Adam Adli, who has gained iconic status after a recent incident involving the lowering of a flag bearing Najib's image.

Last Saturday 17th December after handing over a memorandum to SUHAKAM demanding academic freedom and the abolishment of the UUCA, a group of student activists calling themselves the Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) gathered at the Putra World Trade Centre where the UMNO headquarters is located.

They wanted to hand over the same memorandum to the Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and it was during such a charged atmosphere that Adam Adli first got into hot soup with the authorities. A 22-year-old student from UPSI in Tanjung Malim, Adam Adli lowered a flag bearing Najib's image and replaced it with the SMM's “Academic Freedom” flag. Needless to say, Adam Adli's action gave the Najib administration cardiac arrest or something akin to it.

No rhetoric, no lies

SMM is against the government’s decision to amend the UUCA which they say is political rhetoric, similar to the Political Transformation Program, the Economic Transformation Program and the Government Transformation Program that Najib has unveiled but made no progress on. In the end, the only concrete outcome of his 2-1/2- year tenure as premier has only yielded even more repressive and draconian laws like the Peaceful Assembly Bill.

Adam's act of protest lasted no longer than five minutes and Najib's flag was hoisted back up as soon as the students had finished the gesture of civil disobedience.

SMM also clarified that it was not Adam Adli alone who lowered and swapped the flag but the whole four hundred of them. Adam Adli insisted that the flag bearing Najib’s image was all the time in his hand and he never let it fall to the ground out of respect - if not for the man, at least for the highest office of the land.

Even so, Adam Adali's brave act made a strong, valid, and long delayed statement on how hopeless Najib is as a leader. In an ironic way, it also showcased the pathetic status of our university students, who have been neglected and denied the ability to participate in the country's politics and policy formulation. Not at all befitting the status of youth belonging to the nation's highest institutes of learning.

The repercussions, criticisms and threats

Adam Adli has drawn a lot of criticism and media attention but stands by his action. The first to react to his now widely known action statement was a pro-government student group led by the Malaysian Student Leaders Alumni aspiration Association (Persatuan Pemimpin Alumni Mahasiswa Aspirasi Malaysia -Aspirasi) who denounced the SMM actions and produced a counter memorandum which they submitted to Saifuddin’s senior private secretary Mohd Nazri Noh.

Aspirasi demanded that Saifuddin be fully responsible for the Dec 17 flag swapping incident which “shamed the dignity of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak” and also called for Saifuddin’s resignation if their demands submitted to his office are not met.

Yet, the deputy minister has been very tolerant to the SMM’s demands and very liberal in his personal views pertaining to it but not representing the view of the government. However being just a deputy he can say whatever his view may be, but the authority is still in the hands of the Higher Education Minister, the cabinet and the ultimate power is still with Najib hand whom the SMM and many of us know is a liar and whose words cannot be depended on. Indeed, even at such a crucial juncture, Najib appears to be more concerned about his own personal vanity rather the state of the nation. In short Najib's sly smiles have been exposed, his loss of integrity known to all.

The counter demonstration to SMM by Aspirasi held outside the Higher Education Ministry building in Putrajaya was also supported by a group of UMNO supporters from Tanjong Malim, who demonstrated in the UPSI campus a few days later but that rally turned to be just a noisy few without the focused rapport and participation displayed by the UPSI students. It is also telling that other gatherings sprouted spontaneously in support of Adam Adli, who was has attained a folk hero status with his no-nonsense and principled approach. In fact, the more the authorities including the police gunned after him, the stronger the public support grew for Adam Adli.

Revenge by 'spitting'

In the UMNO corner of the ring, a group of men produced an infamous video defending Najib. To show their earnestness, they shouted vulgarities, threatening to spit on Adam Adli and to slap him for being “kurang ajar” or bad-mannered. This group of 'actors' who must have been paid were more likely to be members of Perkasa, the notorious racist Malay group which supports and encourages UMNO even including the UMNO leaders' corruption and wrong doings.

Silly-billy Perkasa. If they were after money, they would do better by asking Najib to offer to be slapped on his face by anyone who is willing to pay RM1. Without exaggerating, both Najib and the Perkasa group would be millionaires by now! This was the rebuttal floating around the student community in the aftermath of both the Najib flag incident and the Perkasa 'meludah' or spitting campaign. It actually showcases the huge contempt the Malaysian student body feel for Najib after he disgraced himself with some of the worst lies ever made a top leader of the country to the people.

Meanwhile, misguided as ever, the UMNO news media continued the spin that Adam Adli had stepped on Najib’s image despite video evidence that he did not. Instead of shocking or angering, many of Adam Adli’s supporters regretted that he had not stamped all over Najib's face after all.

The repercussions

Adam Adli then has his own growing number of supporters and several groups have declared their backing for him including PKR and PAS. But the most inspiring support has come from his sick father who bought a secondhand car for Adam Adli to use to in his struggle for student rights and a better Malaysia! A proud Abdul Halim, an ex-KTMB employee on medical board discharge and surviving on less then RM1K per month to support his family, sacrificed by scraping from his meager savings to buy that car for his son.

There is already a “We are all Adam Adli” Facebook page with more than 25,900 likes leaving in the dust the “Anti-Bersih” Facebook at 8,101 and the official 1Malaysia Najib Facebook page, still at the 3,000-odd likes it began with.

Both SMM and Adam Adli have refused to apologize for their actions and rightly so. Yet, swiftly without much investigation or even giving Adam Adli a chance to explain his actions and beliefs, the UPSI board under UMNO’s instruction has issued a disciplinary notice and initiated action against him. The notice dated December 23, 2011 issued by UPSI's disciplinary body has brought two charges against him. The 1st Charge alleges, among other things, that Adam Adli had damaged the ' good name' of UPSI and the 2nd Charge alleges that he has 'endangered morals and public order'. Both charges are baseless, unconstitutional, illegal and plainly absurd. In lowering Najib's flag, Adam Adli was exercising his right to freedom of expression which is guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Adam Adli has responded by saying he was not worried that the university might expel him as he could find places to study elsewhere. Furthermore, he added, it is not necessary that one needs to be at a campus to study. However, he is adamant that he did not commit any crime and members of his family have been threatened by UMNO supporters. He too has been personally threatened several times since December 17 including by one overzealous plainclothes policeman named Mokhtar. A police report has been made pertaining to this but will any action be taken? This policeman must have a very small brain to justify this stupid action but perhaps he was asked to. Najib's vanity knows no bounds, it appears. The cop may have done something idiotic for nothing, but to him, it was justifiable because it was for the benefit of his UMNO bosses.

Ulterior motives

Malaysia under the kleptocratic UMNO/BN government cannot contain the anger of the rakyat anymore. Adam Adli is one of the many pressure valves that have opened up to release the anger of the rakyat. This time it is the turn of the students to blow off steam. Many pressure valves will be released in the immediate future. SMM has promised a mini revolt against the UMNO-BN government if they restrict the students further by amending the UUCA to become more draconian rather than less.

And UMNO leaders should remember it was the self immolation of one Egyptian street vendor that sparked the Tahrir Square revolution!

For Najib, this incident is more than a persoanl setback. It again showcase his stupidity and lack of intelligence in handling problems. Now with egg in the face, the Adma Adli incident has all but negated his one-time feel-good cash aid doled out under the 2012 Budget. It is again another publicity nightmare for him after spending millions of the rakyat’s money by engaging expensive foreign media consultants such as APCO and FBC Media.

But there is no one to blame but himself at the end of the day.  Najib is simply stupid to think that his many wrong deeds can be covered by 'make up' and by an image 'make-over'. Where is Mr Awesome and Mr Cool now? Would Mr Cool and Mr Awesome order the police to bully Adam or beat a student protester into a coma?

Critics may feel vindicated when they say Najib has no integrity and by right the flag with his image should be left on the ground beside the dirt. By holding Najib’s flag in his hand Adam Adli has shown a true heroic, honourable and noble gesture by sparing Najib the humiliation he deserves! It is like a gladiator sparing the life of a defeated opponent in the Roman coliseum. Bravo Adam Adli, the poster boy for a new Malaysia.

The UMNO-BN propaganda machines have also failed miserably to brainwash the rakyat especially the younger IT literate generation. Not surprising then that Najib is now using a free Astro channel to gather a captive audience (for which he is paying with the rakyat's money of course for his personal political benefit). There is also a RM10 million (also the rakyat's money) cyber war he has launched against the opposition to try and 'psycho' the young people.

The overall scenario shows how desperate UMNO and Najib are in fighting for the mother of all elections but Adam Adli has shown that Najib has failed from the start! In fact this new medium of communication, like in the Arab spring, could be the main instrument in defeating UMNO-BN. The phrase hoisted by his own petard comes to mind!

Adam Adli has reminded us that Najib has also failed in all his transformation programs. So far, critics agree these are just rhetoric with no real substance at all. UMNO has also failed the nation by appointing Najib as the prime minister without insisting that he validated his claim on power by going through an election. Najib has never been popular and has no support from the majority. His position has been ridiculed by all and even his deputy Muhyiddin disagrees with him most of the time!

Resentment amongst the masses near to boiling point

With this incident Adam Adli also shows that the resentment amongst the masses is near boiling point and whatever that Najib has tried to do like continuing to subside essential items like petrol, gas, flour, rice and sugar is not enough. The distribution of the RM500 is of no use. The KR1M is a failure and the Kedai Ikan 1Malaysia is a waste. The rakyat is getting more fed up everyday since nobody has been taken to task on the overspending as reported by the Auditor-General. It is the same for the NFC debacle as whatever seemingly tough action by the MACC is seen by the rakyat is another boring UMNO sandiwara.

Another failure Adam Adli has pointed out is Najib's inability to solve core problems such as unemployment amongst graduates, poverty both in the rural and urban areas, wastages in government spending, unnecessary and corrupt spending on military hardware like the useless Scorpene submarines and the new navy patrol vessels at RM3 billion each, a mediocre education system, high cost but low standards of living, racial and religious tensions.

The rakyat also must know by this wake up call from Adam Adli that the UMNO leaders are only servicing their own personal interests and political agenda but not the welfare of the rakyat or the country. RM1 trillion has been stolen to date and the country is RM445 billion in debt.

Coincidently the Adam Adli incident was followed by the jailing of Khir Toyo for 12 month for corruption over the purchase of his RM3.5million palatial home, while a jobless man who stole a bottle of shampoo was jailed for 24 months! What sort of justice reigns in UMNO-BN courts? It is the same in the case of the RM250 million Shahrizat NFC scandal, where her husband and children are benefitting from their financial manipulation of public money and yet the MACC is putting the blame on another “Datuk” and others in the Ministry of Finance!

Poster Boy for a new Malaysia

Adam Adli with brains, style, bravery, energy, zeal and unselfish attitude should be the icon and the latest boy for a new Malaysia. He is a fine example and who should be emulated by the younger generation. He is already their hero and is bound to become more and more popular with time.

Let us see how drastically Najib will react and how harsh the authorities will punish Adam Adli and the UPSI protester. It would be unwise for Najib to act drastically against this young man or jeopardize his future for that matter. Anyway it would be a futile effort to stop the rising tide and any form of unfair treatment to Adam Adli will just add more fuel to the anger of the rakyat, especially the youths. They need a hero, a real fighter and Najib could be producing one for them!

Meanwhile, let us assure Adam Adli and all student protesters that they are not alone. He and they have our support and we will back him all they way. Before it is too late, vote UMNO-BN out!

Malaysia Chronicle