The 22-year-old Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) student, Adam Adli Abdul Halim, who lowered a flag depicting Najib Abdul Razak at the Umno headquarters at the Putra World Trade Centre, said he would not apologise to the prime minister for his actions.

Telling Sinar Harian in an exclusive interview today, Adam said his actions were to drive a point that the present situation in the country was getting worse and hoped his actions would create awareness.

“I will never apologise (to the prime minister). Since the thing had happened till today, now I am asked to apologise. I will never do that. How about my friends and the struggle? ” he asked.

NONE “I do not want my friends to be demoralised if I apologise.

"It is not that I will never apologise at all, as maybe someday I may have to say sorry to some people for my actions,” he said when asked whether he will apologise to the prime minister.

Adam (left) said he wanted to convey the message that university students should not be afraid as they are aware that discrimination and mismanagement do exist.

“Why should university students be afraid of those whom we have elected. They should work for us. Do not be afraid to criticise our leaders, no matter who they are.

“I do not want university students to be aggressive in their protests but be creative,” he said, adding that he is prepared to face any repercussion.

Tracing back the moments that led him to lower Najib's flag, Adam said that while the memorandum was being handed to Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, the situation was getting dull as the students marched from the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, and only Saifuddin had agreed to meet them at PWTC.

Adam said he felt there was no desired impact with the handover of the memorandum as they marched And pictures were taken.

bebas protest loweing of najib's flag “All that was insufficient as we have been shouting academic freedom along the way and we only shook hands with the deputy minister and took pictures.

“For me that is insufficient and I decided to take our flag and lower down Najib's flag and replace it with the academic freedom flag.

“Some students who saw this shouted victory. I felt that victory was not in managing to meet a deputy minister but to make a strong statement,” he said.

The student said his parents supported his actions and it was not right to label him and his family as opposition sympathisers.

Meanwhile, the paper also reported that Adam’s father had sought PKR Youth’s help protect his son who had received various threats following his action.

“It has become a serious issue and Adam has also lodged a police report at the Tanjung Malim police station. I hope police would do the necessary to protect him,” said PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin.

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