JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<a  id="myNext" href="#" onclick="clickAction(this)"><span class="txt_purple"></span><img align="absmiddle" src="http://www.adaptivedevelopment.com/wordpress/images/home-page-slider/all-arrows.png"  border="0" /></a>

JavaScript

function clickAction(element)
{
    alert(element);
}

var elem = document.getElementById('myNext');
if( elem )
{
    clickAction(elem);
}