Adam Adli: Poster boy of a New Malaysia

UMNO and its lacklustre president, Najib Razak, have missed a golden opportunity to reach out to the university community in Malaysia.

Bear in mind that the greatest revolutions were launched by young people residing in universities. It was university students who spear-headed the protest against the Vietnam War in America. It was university students who provided the undercurrent support for the Arab Spring. And it is within the universities that the politics of a nation are shaped and moulded.

Backward thinking

The very act of threatening Adam Adli, the student who lowered the flag of Najib’s vanity at the UMNO headquarters speaks of the backwardness of UMNO’s own thinking. Instead of engaging, UMNO threatens. Instead of understanding, UMNO reacts angrily and maliciously. Yes, this is UMNO - the biggest bully in Malaysia.

Adam Adli was part of a larger group protesting against Malaysia’s draconian University and University Colleges Act last Saturday. What he and the group did is mild compared to the acts by UMNO and their goons. Adam lowered the Najib flag for a mere 5 minutes, and already he is slapped with disciplinary actions by his university, UPSI, labeled as kurang ajar and threatened with bodily harm.

Compare this to the acts of UMNO’s mouth-piece, Utusan Malaysia, which constantly lies about the perceived acts of Christians to set up a Chrisitan prime minister. What about the actions of the Penang UMNO leaders who sent cakes in the shape of human excreta to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on the occasion of the Chief Minister’s birthday? Or the 50-odd UMNO demonstrators who paraded a cow head and dumped it before a Hindu temple in Shah Alam?

What about the acts of Hishammuddin Hussein, who as UMNO Youth Leader, waved a keris during the 2005 UMNO General Assembly, saying it was meant "to motivate the Malays" and that it "is here to stay", all the while denying that it was a symbol of Malay supremacy.

What about the likes of another UMNO mouth-piece, Perkasa and its president Ibrahim Ali, who constantly insult the intelligence of Malaysians by asserting that every non-Malay in Malaysia is an enemy and a threat to the Malays? Should not the likes of those in UMNO also react against Perkasa for its dangerous insinuations that Malays are stupid and so easily swayed?

It is clear, that as long as UMNO is doing the bullying; everything is permissible. But the moment someone pricks UMNO, they react with malicious and violent intent.

Adam Adli took head on the might of the bully UMNO, which marshaled all its resources to demonise and put down the youngster. And in its reaction, UMNO has given us a glimpse as to how they will handle a new Malaysia in a new era.

The new Malaysia is steered by the likes of Adam Adli. It will be steered by moderates, thinkers, proactive youth, innovators and individuals with a large world view. Citizens who know about their constitutional rights and strive for the good of the community. This a Malaysia that expresses itself, whether good or bad.

The new Malaysia is not afraid to stand up for a cause and to seek a grand revamp of the political system. A new Malaysia is a bottom up approach to government. The ideal democracy, where it is the voice of the people that motivate the politicians to move policy. Not the other way round, where the politicians move policy in order to curtail the people.

It is an era of transparency and intellectual discourse. And in this new era, there is no room for the likes of UMNO, who have refused to change their ways and mind-sets. UMNO cannot survive in this modern world. It cannot survive in a world where the people are the boss, and UMNO is the servant.

UMNO’s reaction to a student lowering a flag bearing its president's face, is akin to the idol worship North Korea has for its leaders. Unfortunately for UMNO, only its own members believe in the divinity of its president. For the majority of Malaysians, it is absurd that Adam Adli should be punished for merely expressing his thoughts in the most symbolic of acts.

Could then we infer that such reactions would be magnified when UMNO loses the federal government? That UMNO will turn on the people of Malaysia, when they are defeated in GE-13? Already, they are turning on our youth! No prizes then for guessing who are the real trouble-makers in Malaysia!

Malaysia Chronicle