Dr Akmal’s Outburst Is the Real Embarrassment — Not the Students’ Protest

Dr Akmal Saleh, currently Umno Youth Chief, went berserk over UMS students' recent act of burning a drawing of PM Anwar Ibrahim in Kota Kinabalu, at a peaceful demo against rampant corruption in Sabah. Anwar has since absolved the students of any punishment, but Umno guys like Dr Akmal are unhappy.

By Daniel John Jambun, 25-6-2025

WE take note of the rude and unprovoked outburst by UMNO Youth Chief, Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh, who labelled student activists in Sabah as “cowardly and stupid” for burning a caricature of the Prime Minister during the peaceful Gempur Rasuah 2.0 rally.

Let us be very clear:

This is not about manners. This is about moral clarity.

And what these students did was not an act of cowardice — it was an act of courage in the face of systemic failure and federal hypocrisy.

For Dr Akmal to moralise about “respecting leaders” while remaining silent on RM3.3 billion worth of water corruption in Sabah, on timber and mineral concessions handed out to cronies, and on the political intimidation of whistleblowers, is the very definition of cowardice.

If Dr Akmal is so enraged by symbolic protest art — but unbothered by the real-life theft of public wealth — then the problem is not the students’ method.

The problem is his priorities.

We must also remind Dr Akmal that UMNO has no moral high ground to speak on protest ethics. This is the same party whose leaders were convicted of kleptocracy at a global scale, whose youth wings defended Najib Razak even after his conviction, and whose culture of impunity helped normalise the very corruption Sabahans are now rising up against.

So let’s ask plainly:

Where was Akmal’s outrage when Sabah’s natural resources were plundered under UMNO’s watch?

Where was his moral lecture when billions were stolen from the rakyat?

Where is his courage when federal agencies selectively prosecute while protecting the powerful?

The youth of Sabah are standing up — not for any party, not for any politician — but for justice. And they have every constitutional right to do so.

If Akmal wants to debate Sabahans, he is welcome to come to Kota Kinabalu and face them directly — not hide behind Facebook rants and recycled moral outrage.

But until he can speak with consistency, humility, and honesty — he would do well to sit down and stop embarrassing himself further.

Daniel John Jambun is President of

Change Advocate Movement Sabah (CAMOS), an CSO dedicated to change through political literacy.#~Borneo Herald™