A tale of two youth leaders

I couldn’t help but be struck by the contrasting leadership styles on display in the run-up to the Melaka polls.

While neither is a candidate for chief minister, both PKR’s Adam Adli and Umno’s Dr Akmal Saleh are the faces of the future for their respective parties.

To me, Adam of PKR displays a soft-spoken, progressive style. There is backbone to his principles, and he was a student leader who was detained and harassed by the previous regime.

He chose to join a multiracial party and has progressed from PKR Youth chief to deputy minister of higher education after winning the Hang Tuah Jaya parliamentary seat.

While he often comes under the cosh over the failed PTPTN loan abolition, I have seen him at work trying to extend the benefits of our nation to its less fortunate.

On the other hand, there’s the rabble-rousing Akmal of Umno. The two men were born a year apart but represent very different ways of thinking.

Indeed, his career reads to me like a hall of shame. But presumably, it has some appeal among the rempit crowd.

Just last week came another defamation suit loss, as the Melaka High Court ruled in Teresa Kok’s favour over his September 2024 remarks slamming her for questioning a proposed mandatory halal certification.

Kok was awarded RM250,000 in general and aggravated damages, plus RM50,000 in costs. He had called her an “old Nyonya” and suggested placing a non-halal logo on her forehead.

Now he says he is prepared to give up his bid to defend the Merlimau state seat in the Melaka election on Nov 14 if the court case he faces over a charge under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code hurts Umno and Barisan Nasional’s chances at the polls.

Akmal is charged with making statements on his Facebook page that allegedly caused public fear, alarm, or disruption to public order.

The charge stems from a viral Facebook video and post made around Aug 11, 2025, regarding an incident in which the Jalur Gemilang was displayed upside down.

Akmal said he had conveyed his position to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, stressing that the party’s interests must come before his personal ambitions.

This is, of course, merely the latest transgression by a man who has positioned himself as an ethnic champion. Akmal was also previously involved in a defamation suit brought by his sibling.

In 2024, he called on the prime minister to sack tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing after bak kut teh was recognised as a national heritage food. In the same year, he was involved in a dispute over vernacular schools that led to an insinuation that his opponent, P Ramasamy, was drunk.

And of course he led the KK Mart boycott campaign after socks bearing the word “Allah” were discovered on sale there. Is his brand of politics toxic or constructive? I leave you to decide.

Adam has been working quietly to build consensus. The fact that he cares about all Malaysians does not make him any less of a member of his race or religion. In fact, that is one of the great false assumptions in Malaysian public life.

In his roles at the higher education ministry and the youth and sports ministry, Adam has supported several public-facing initiatives, including PTPTN loan repayment flexibility.

Under the repayment measures announced in the 2027 budget, borrowers earning between RM2,501 and RM3,000 a month are required to make minimum monthly payments of RM50, while those earning below RM2,500 a month are eligible for repayment exemptions.

Other initiatives for students include support for transit passes like My50 and MyKomuter50, alongside the FlySiswa flight subsidy of RM500 for students who travel between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia.

He has promoted technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to bolster graduate employability and supported the revival of the Rakan Muda programme for youth development.

He has also been involved in local infrastructure and welfare projects in Hang Tuah Jaya, such as local flood mitigation.

More than anything else, he views the future with a keen mind and open heart. These are the leaders we need if we are to stop going around in circles.

Martin Vengadesan is a former editor who currently serves as a strategic communications consultant to the communications ministry.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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