DETRACTORS have hailed the MANDIRI duo who briefly disrupted Malaysia’s top graft buster Tan Sri Azam Baki during his keynote address at the Wacana Ilmiah Perdana programme at the World Trade Centre (WTC) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (April 7) for their heroics.
This is despite Madani keyboard warriors were quick to slam both activists from the #TangkapAzamBaki Secretariat as “delinquents” for gate-crashing the event by carrying placards which read “Azam Baki Simbol Reformati” and “Tangkap Azam Baki” while taunting “Azam Baki… hipokrasi Anwar Ibrahim”.
Nevertheless, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) chief commissioner appeared calm and professional as he continued his speech unperturbed by the incident which is believed to be linked to his shareholdings case.
“… unfortunately, Azam Baki’s programme was interrupted by two young chaps … when you think back, is Azam Baki’s sin so great that his event was disrupted like that?” lamented PKR Negeri Sembilan information secretary Edy Noor Reduan.
“I’m sure the youths’ actions will definitely not receive public support or encouragement … There’s no problem with demonstrating or protesting but interrupting the said programme is very uncivilised for we’re Easterners, we’re Malays.”
For the uninitiated, MANDIRI which refers to Pusat Pembangunan Rakyat is an independent, youth-driven civil society organisation was founded in May 2024 by activists Amir Abd Hadi, Mohamad Alshatry Abdullah and Dobby Chew.
Terdapat satu gangguan berlaku ketika Ketua Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM), Azam Baki, sedang menyampaikan ucapan dalam Wacana Ilmiah Perdana di sini hari ini.
Insiden tersebut melibatkan dua individu yang secara tiba-tiba menjerit slogan berbunyi “Azam Baki…… pic.twitter.com/vc7BbAysEG
— Astro AWANI (@501Awani) April 7, 2026
Protesters briefly disrupted MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki during his speech at an event at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur, this afternoon.
Security personnel quickly removed the protesters from the venue, as Azam continued his keynote address on integrity.
📹: MANDIRI / Instagram
— BFM News (@NewsBFM) April 7, 2026
On the contrary, a check at the comment section of news portals which reported the incident showed that majority of commenters were seemingly rallying behind the youths as “the new-gen reformists” with some even mocking the Madani government for not realising that Azam is a liability to the administration.
For one, the PSM (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) Gombak branch defended the youths who are believed to be detained at the Dang Wangi district police saltation (IPD) as per revealed by Amir who is also the MANDIRI executive director.
“Holding a sign silently isn’t a crime. There is no reason for the police to arrest them. We demand their immediate release!” it rebutted.
“This is outrageous. These individuals are MANDIRI members. Shortly after, the MANDIRI (social media) account was suspended! Terrible! Who’s afraid of this protest?”
Civil and criminal lawyer Faizal Rahman described “mistake” of the so-called “delinquent youths” as having “being in the wrong era”.
“If they were (there) in the time when Anwar Ibrahim was in the Opposition, they would definitely be hailed as HEROES. Because in that era, Anwar and his friends were the ones who fought for #TangkapAzamBaki,” recounted the Madani critic who surprisingly is a PKR member.
However, the current era is no longer so. The struggle for #TangkapAzamBaki by Anwar Ibrahim and his friends has long been extinguished.
“This era is the era where Anwar desperately defended #AzamBaki. So how could he be willing to see #TangkapAzamBaki become a reality? You’re in the wrong era, lads. 😇” – April 8, 2026
Main image credit: Kamil Adam 🇲🇾 (@kamylladam)/X
