COMMENT | UM student lit the torch in the fight against corruption

COMMENT | When a Universiti Malaya student leader poured scorn on the willingness of the public to donate to a fundraising campaign for former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, she stirred a hornet’s nest.

Ummi Umairah Bakhit, a Bachelor of Economics student, didn’t mince her words in describing such a gesture as “the stupidest thing” to do.

Never in her “entire life” has she witnessed people actually coming out to donate to the fund to get Najib out of Kajang Prison to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

Ummi correctly pointed out that the jailed leader is “clearly linked to corruption” and hence, it follows, there’s no valid reason for the public to rally around the disgraced figure.

The former Umno president can only leave the prison cell if he can raise RM50 million as a condition for his release set by the Federal Territories Pardons Board.

Subsequently, the Najib Solidarity Fund was established to whip up public support for the fundraising campaign, which appears to be faltering.

No good deed goes unpunished

For speaking her mind, Ummi received online harassment and threats after a video of her scathing remarks went viral.

The 23-year-old undergraduate touched this raw nerve at a dialogue session with former minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari and Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur on Oct 16.

She is indeed brave to raise a topic that Umno would rather see buried or forgotten. Khairy, a former Umno Youth leader, must have been stunned to hear a young woman launch a stinging criticism of his former boss.

The brickbats she has received are tantamount to cyberbullying, but will the authorities crack down hard on the culprits, given that laws have been enacted to tackle just such acts of intimidation?

Or will the unthinkable happen if the university takes disciplinary action against this outspoken student leader for dressing down a former premier?

A timely reminder

The threats she received probably came from some Umno diehards or grassroots supporters who still think their Bossku had been dealt an injustice during all those long trials related to the SRC International case and the 1MDB scandal.

To them, Najib is a revered leader whom they still ardently believe commands considerable public support and perhaps could one day return to active politics.

Some might even entertain the sweet dream that the once most influential man in the land might again be clothed with all the trappings of power.

What Ummi did was revive the “national conversation” on corruption. And by her one bold act, she has put the spotlight on the crime Najib perpetrated to make sure no one would ever forget this most shameful chapter in the country’s history.

The discourse will continue because, as Ummi has rightly pointed out, “if you want to build a nation”, people must also speak up on corruption.

Was she intimidated? Not in the least. By her own account, she will stand her ground and continue to challenge public perception about corruption. Cowardice is not in her dictionary.

In other words, she wants to encourage the young people to also make a stand. She wants them to understand how corruption is perceived in the life of the nation.

In short, they must form the vanguard in the unremitting fight against corruption and abuse of power.

PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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