“I BURNED Anwar’s face in Sabah because I followed his example of burning (first premier) Tunku Abdul Rahman’s book”.
Such was the confession of t Suara Mahasiswa Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) president Fadhil Kasim who incurred the wrath of PKR Youth chief Kamil Munim for burning a caricature of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with the slogan “Madani: Protector of Sabah’s Corrupt”.
Added the UMS final year undergraduate of how PMX inspired him to pursue his action during the Gempur Rasuah 2.0 Rally at Lintasan Deasoka in Gaya Street, Kota Kinabalu over the weekend:
“When he was the Universiti Malaya Malay Language Society (PBMUM) president, Anwar along with other student leaders demonstrated and burned the book 13 Mei: Sebelum dan Selepas by Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Saya bakar muka Anwar di Sabah sebab saya contohi Anwar bakar buku Tunku Abdul Rahman.
THREAD pic.twitter.com/b5telQ4tf7
— Fadhil #GempurRasuahSabah (@fxdhilss) June 23, 2025
“Deeming the book as ‘subversive’, the Anwar-led PBMUM committee held a ceremony to bury Tunku’s book by demonstrating and burning it in public.”
The 25-year-old went on to explain that he was compelled to state his stance after he and fellow activist Aliff Danial who torched PMX’s caricature have received heavy criticism from “Anwar’s sycophants, taking into account our manners, morality and methods of organising the rally”.
“I think Anwar Ibrahim after watching our video will be touched to recall his memories at the UM in the 1970s. But that’s just a feeling, my friend,” penned Fadhil on his X account with a tinge of sarcasm.
Defending action
“The reality is that Anwar is now Malaysia’s PM, not a student activist (anymore). When he was in the opposition, Anwar would go to Sabah to bring his top-5 popular narratives. Musa Aman; timber; roads; corruption; and Sabah’s rights.
“Now it’s different, Anwar may be more concerned about how to maintain the strength of GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah) in the Madani administration at a time when the ruling state government is embroiled in an extraordinary corruption scandal.”
For the record, Fadhil had on Feb 25 escaped action after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) decided to drop all charges against him and other individuals involved in an unauthorised assembly (first sequel of the anti-corruption rally) in front of Menara Kinabalu, Likas on Dec 31 last year.
In defending criticism levelled at him by Kamil who is also PMX’s political secretary at the Finance Ministry that effigy burning was not just excessive and rude but also showed that the protesters had no valid arguments to make, Fadhil reasoned:
The leadership of ABIM (Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia), PKR Youth and every organisation that bootlicks Anwar Ibrahim today clearly failed to highlight the nuances of Anwar himself because for them the most important thing now is the opportunity to fan out to continue to rise to the top.
Kamil Munim is the best example (apart from Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Adam Adli).
Apparently, they have failed to delve into the aesthetics of students who are demonstrating on the issue of corruption in Sabah today.
They are more concerned with the portrait of their figure being licked by the fire of anger than the people’s wealth that is slowly being plundered by the corruptors and the UMS water crisis. – June 24, 2025
