Syed Saddiq

In thisMalay name,there is nosurname or family name.The nameSyed Abdul Rahmanis apatronymic,and the person should be referred to by theirgiven name,Syed Saddiq.The word "bin" or "binti" / "binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.

Yang BerhormatTuan Syed Saddiq MP
سيد صادق بن سيد عبدالرحمن‎
Saddiq in 2019
Minister of Youth and Sports
In office 2 July 2018 – 24 February 2020
Prime Minister	Mahathir Mohamad
Deputy	Steven Sim Chee Keong
Preceded by	Khairy Jamaluddin
Succeeded by	Reezal Merican Naina Merican
1st President of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance
In office 17 September 2020 – 9 November 2023
Deputy	Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz (Acting)
1st Youth Chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party
In office 7 September 2016 – 28 May 2020
President	Muhyiddin Yassin
Deputy	Mohd Aizat Roslan
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal
Member of theMalaysian Parliament forMuar
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 May 2018
Preceded by	Razali Ibrahim (BN–UMNO)
Majority	6,953 (2018) 1,345 (2022)
Faction represented inDewan Rakyat
2018–2020	Pakatan Harapan
2020	Independent
2020–	Malaysian United Democratic Alliance
Personal details
Born	Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman (1992-12-06)6 December 1992 Pulai,Johor Bahru,Johor,Malaysia
Political party	Malaysian United Indigenous Party(BERSATU) (2016–2020) Malaysian United Democratic Alliance(MUDA) (since 2020)
Other political affiliations	Pakatan Harapan(PH) (2017–2020)
Relatives	Alsagoff family
Education	Royal Military College
Alma mater	International Islamic University Malaysia(LLB)
Occupation	Politician
Syed SaddiqonParliament of Malaysia

Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Sagoff(Jawi:سيد صادق بن سيد عبدالرحمن;born 6 December 1992) is a Malaysian politician who has been serving as theMember of Parliament(MP) forMuarsince May 2018. In 2023, he was found guilty of criminalbreach of trustandmoney laundering.

He served as theMinister of Youth and Sportsin thePakatan Harapan(PH) administration under former Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamadfrom July 2018 to the collapse of thePHadministration in February 2020, thus making him the youngest federal minister in Malaysian history. He is a founding member of theMalaysian United Democratic Alliance(MUDA) and served as its 1st President from September 2020 until November 2023.He was also a founding member of theMalaysian United Indigenous Party(BERSATU), a former component party of the PH coalition and served as 1st Youth Chief of BERSATU from the founding in September 2016 to his removal from the party in May 2020. Although he is presently the sole MUDA MP, his conviction and sentencing to imprisonment exceeds 1 year, which means he is liable for automatic disqualification as a MP for Muar.

In 2021, he was charged with several counts ofcorruption,including criminal breach of trust,misappropriation of funds,andmoney laundering.On 28 October 2022, he was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence after the prosecution showed that there was enough evidence against him to prove that he probably committed the crime. On 9 November 2023, Syed Saddiq was convicted by theHigh Courtof all the corruption charges, sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment, a RM 10 million fine and two strokes of the cane.He immediately resigned as the MUDA president following his conviction and was replaced by his deputy,Amira Aisya Abdul Azizas the acting president. Prior to the conviction, Syed Saddiq withdrew his support for Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahimand his government after Deputy Prime MinisterAhmad Zahid Hamidihad been granted discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for his court charges. He became an opposition MP, he has consistently and actively criticised, protested and campaigned against the unequal government financial allocations to the MPs across the political divide, with the opposition MPs being denied the allocations despite him having personally met with the government representative Deputy Prime MinisterFadillah Yusoffor negotiations of giving allocations to opposition MPs for a few times, while supporting and advocating for reforming the pension scheme forCabinetministers, MPs andMembers of the Legislative Assemblies(MLAs).

Early life and education

Saddiq was born on 6 December 1992 in Pulai, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. His father is aSingaporean,who used to work as a construction worker in Singapore. His mother used to be an English teacher.The youngest of four siblings, he had studied at theRoyal Military College(RMC) before continuing his studies at theInternational Islamic University Malaysia(IIUM) inBachelor of Laws(LLB). During his time at IIUM, he competed in an Asian-level debate competition and successfully won theUnited Asian Debating Championship(UADC).He is widely known in the debating community after having won Asia's Best Speaker award at the Asian British Parliamentary (ABP) Debating Championship three times.

In 2017, he allegedly rejected a counter offer to pursue his studies atOxford University,England [Oxford University however denied the offer] to remain active in politics.A year later, after being elected as MP at the age of 25, Syed Saddiq once again allegedly dismissed another scholarship offer, this time rejecting theChevening Scholarshipproposal to pursue a Master in Public Policy at Oxford University.

In April 2021, he successfully completed the Lee Kuan Yew Senior Fellowship in Public Service Programme atLee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy,National University of Singapore.

Political career

Early political career and formation of BERSATU

In 2015, Saddiq served as Perdana Fellow (Malay:Felo Perdana) toMinister in the Prime Minister's Department,Nancy Shukri.

Saddiq as a law graduate came to prominence in 2016 when he joined 24 other youths, a group that called themselves Change Led by the Young Generation (Challenger), published a statement rejecting Najib Razak's leadership over thescandal of 1Malaysia Development Berhad(1MDB).

Saddiq was the leader of ARMADA (Malay:Angkatan Bersatu Anak Muda); the youth wing of the BERSATU.He was a spokesperson for the party since its inception in September 2016 and was considered one of the founding members and sat on the party council.

2018 Malaysian general election, Minister of Youth and Sports

Saddiq made his debut contesting the2018 general election(GE14) for the Muar parliamentary seat and was elected to theParliament.He was then appointed as the Minister of Youth and Sports in the PH new government making him the youngest ever federal minister in 2018 sinceMalaysia's independence.

He is the youngestcabinet Ministerto be appointed at the age of 25 as well as the thirdyoungest MPafter also 2018-electedPrabakaran Parameswaran(21) and 1976-electedNajib Razak(22) sinceIndependencein thehistory of Malaysia.He was even called as'cucu',literally means 'grandson' for his youthfulness in the Parliament house.

Undi18effort

As the Minister of Youth and Sports, Saddiq pushed for a lower voting age, or eligibility to vote in Malaysia, from 21 to 18 years old ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15), an effort dubbed as"Undi18".However, he agreed that first a political exposure programme for the young people of Malaysia is needed.In July 2019, Saddiq tabled a Bill in Parliament to amend the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age to 18but it was withdrawn and re-tabled later after it was tweaked to accommodate some changes. The Dewan Rakyat on 16 July unanimously passed the re-tabledConstitution (Amendment) Act 2019bill to lower the voting age, as well as eligibility to contest in election to 18 and automatic registration of voters byElection Commission(EC).In November 2021, the constitutional amendment was finally gazetted which stated that Undi18 amendments would come into effect for implementation on 15 December as consented byYang di-Pertuan Agong.

Expulsion from BERSATU

He became anIndependentin May 2020 after being terminated as a member and first youth chief of theMalaysian United Indigenous Party(BERSATU), which was a component party of the then-rulingPakatan Harapan(PH) coalition.

Following his expulsion from BERSATU, Mahathir and his-led MPs have formed a new party,namedParty of Homeland's Fighters(PEJUANG).However instead of joining PEJUANG, on 21 August Syed Saddiq announced that he will be establishing a new multi-racial, youth-centric party.

Formation of MUDA

On 17 September 2020, Saddiq launched and co-founded theMalaysian United Democratic Alliance(MUDA) and was officially registered as political party on 23 December 2021.In the2023 state elections,he took MUDA against theunity governmentby contesting againstPakatan Harapanincumbents, and lost all the seats contested.

Corruption charges

In July 2021, he was charged with criminal breach of trust andmisappropriation of fundsbelonging to his former party, BERSATU. For the first charge, Syed Saddiq, the then-BERSATU's youth chief, was charged with criminal breach of trust for withdrawing RM1.12 million via a cheque without BERSATU's supreme council's approval. He was charged with another accusation of misappropriating RM120,000 in BERSATU donation money intended for the2018 general election.He had claimed trial to both counts of corruption and was released on bail of RM330,000 with additional conditions.He claimed that the allegations were brought against him because he refused to back thePerikatan Nasionaladministration.

In August 2021, Syed Saddiq was charged again with two corruption charges ofmoney laundering.According to the charge sheet, the accused transferred RM50,000 from his bank account to hisAmanah Saham Bumiputeraaccount on 16 June 2018 and another RM50,000 on 19 June 2018. Saddiq pleaded not guilty to the charges.He claimed thatWan Ahmad Fayhsal,the BERSATU youth chief, came to his house before he was accused and persuaded him to rejoin BERSATU and supportMuhyiddin Yassinas prime minister.Although Wan Fayhsal admitted that there was a meeting with Syed Saddiq, he insisted that the meeting was not to make an offer or threat to Syed Saddiq.

On 5 July 2022, a witness, Rafiq Hakim Razali, in Syed Saddiq's trial said that Saddiq asked him to dispose of part of the RM1 million Bersatu funds. The RM1 million was in Syed Saddiq's possession.

On 18 July 2022, the High Court rejected Syed Saddiq's bid to impeach star witness Rafiq Hakim Razali due to his 'contradicting statements' in his ongoing criminal breach of trust trial. This means that Rafiq can still testify against Syed Saddiq in the trial.

On 19 July 2022, an MACC officer, Khairi claimed that the MACC is investigating Syed Saddiq for making false statements about RM250,000 that went missing. They went to his house to try to find out more information, and during the investigation, they seized a phone belonging to Rafiq Hakim Razali.Gobind Singh Deo,Syed Saddiq's lawyer, cross-examined Khairi and said that the act of going to Syed Saddiq's house was an abuse of power by MACC. Khairi denied that MACC had abused its powers, saying the investigation was launched based on information received.

On 28 October 2022, the High Court found that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against Syed Saddiq, and he was ordered to enter his defense on four charges of misappropriation of assets, money laundering and abetting in criminal breach of trust.On 9 November 2023, Syed Saddiq was found guilty of all the corruption charges by theHigh Court,sentencing him to 7 years' imprisonment, a RM 10 million fine andtwo strokes of the cane.Syed Saddiq was granted astay of executionof his sentence while pending his appeal.

Political views

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Syed Saddiq has been vocal in his support for Palestine and criticism of Israel. He has stated that Palestine existed long before Israel,and criticised Israel for illegally appointing themselves as the "guardians" of Palestine.He also stands firm with Malaysia's ban on Israeli athletes,and has called for the freedom of Palestine.

LGBT rights

In July 2018, Syed Saddiq faced criticism after his personal aide, Numan Afifi, resigned due to his involvement in LGBT activism. In response, Syed Saddiq tweeted, "You'll always be a bro," indicating his support for Numan.

During a forum on 1 September 2020, when Syed Saddiq was asked whether the MUDA party would acceptLGBTmembers, he stated:

We should never forget Malaysia's DNA, which is theFederal Constitutionand the National Principles (Rukun Negara) that must be the pillar or umbrella of a party. Therefore, if we can, we need to institutionalise the National Principles. Before every program, [we] stand up, read the National Principles, embed them in [our] heart. And don't forget, whatever the policies that are to be formulated, whatever the level of openness, we must not ignore the Federal Constitution and the National Principles. As long as we hold firm to these two things, I am confident, insya'Allah, we will succeed.

— Syed Saddiq

Controversies and issues

Outspoken comments

Saddiq is an avid social media user and regularly posts about political and social issues in Malaysia. In September 2015, Saddiq said he would "teach"Nurul Hidayah, the daughter of ex-Deputy Prime MinisterAhmad Zahid Hamidi,who criticized participants in theBersih 4.0 demonstration.In November 2015, Saddiq admitted that he had supportedNajib Razak,but later said Najib had embarrassed the country because of the1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.In October 2018, he said thatKetuanan Melayuhad ended by calling the term nothing more than a mere meaningless phrase. His statement then evoked various responses from many parties.He defended the actions of four academics who allegedly submitted an executive summary on theRome Statute of the International Criminal Court(ICC) to the Conference of Rulers and insisted their actions were part of the academic freedom promised byPakatan Harapan(PH) in celebrating democracy and differences of opinion in Malaysia.

Relationship with Tunku Ismail Idris

In 2019, he denied being in an "open warfare" with the Crown Prince of Johor,Tunku Ismail Idris.He responded on his Twitter to Tunku Ismail Idris that there were some parties that had considered it a “declaration of war”.

Probed for video on police brutality

In May 2021, he was investigated by the Malaysian police for a video he posted onTikTok.In this video, he demanded justice for the late A. Ganapathy who recently died in police custody. Saddiq starts the videowith the hashtag #justiceforganapathy and goes on to describe the serious injuries inflicted on Ganapathy that ultimately led to his death. Saddiq continues by saying "police brutality is a serious issue" and then he begins to list the names of the men that have died in police custody from the year 2009 to 2021. Saddiq then ends the video by encouraging viewers to "push for the IPCMC bill (to establish the Independent Police Complaints & Misconduct Commission) and to push for justice".

On 22 May 2021, the police brought Saddiq into theDang WangiDistrict Police Headquarters, seized his phone and took control of hisInstagramandTikTokaccounts after being instructed to do so by theMalaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission(MCMC).According to Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri, the deputy director of the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department, Saddiq was being investigated under Section 505(b) of thePenal Codeand Section 233 of theCommunications and Multimedia Act.

However, MCMC has denied instructing theRoyal Malaysia Police(RMP) to seize Saddiq's phone, they merely "acted as a technical agency in assisting police investigation".Despite claims from Saddiq that this was a "politically motivated move orchestrated by MCMC",the MCMC stated that they will continue to "provide assistance and technical recommendations for the investigation without any hidden agenda including political agenda".

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opposition(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2018	P146Muar		Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman(BERSATU)	22,341	53.09%		Razali Ibrahim(UMNO)	15,388	36.57%	42,719	6,953	84.02%
							Abdul Aziz Talib (PAS)	4,354	10.34%
2022			Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman(MUDA)	19,961	37.55%		Abdullah Husin (PAS)	18,616	35.02%	53,158	1,345	77.12%
							Mohd Helmy Abd Latiff (UMNO)	14,581	27.43%

Awards

• NONA Man Inspiring Award of theNona Superhero Award(2021)

External links

• Media related toSyed Saddiqat Wikimedia Commons
• Syed SaddiqonFacebook