Syed Saddiq, one of Malaysia's youngest politicians, was Asia's youngest elected cabinet minister at just 25 years old. Using social media, he advocates youth involvement in shaping the nation.
Direct Talk
Syed Saddiq is one of
Malaysia's youngest politicians.
He was elected as cabinet minister
at just 25 years old.
In 2020, he co-founded MUDA,
which is Malaysia's first
youth-centric political party.
Syed was re-elected as a member of Parliament
in the 2022 General Elections.
He organises fundraising activities
and leads volunteer work
to aid those in need.
Syed believes
that youths should be willing to break down
doors to take control of their destiny.
Breaking Down Doors
Whether we like it or not
young people will inherit this country,
the good and the bad.
So young people not only
represent the future
but also the present.
Demographic analysis showed
Malaysia had a large
population of youths in 2018.
People aged between 15 to 39 years old,
made up a little over 45%
or close to 10 million people.
However, youths are faced
with a multitude of challenges.
My generation will go through tough times.
The fact that we have to work two or
three different jobs to make a decent living
signifies that this is not a generation
which is asset-rich, it is asset-light.
We cannot own a house, we cannot own a car,
we must work three or four different jobs
including during weekends to earn a living
and above and beyond that
we looking at the generation
which is above us or parents
which do not have savings when they retire.
Therefore, we must think about ourselves
and also take care our parents.
Syed believes that youths
should take charge of their own destiny
and have a platform
to contribute to building the nation.
The point is,
is to envision the world in which
young people will be represented
in every single echelon of decision making,
whether it's from a village level
to the cabinet of the country.
You want to have a youth view,
included and well represented.
So society cannot live without young people,
young people cannot live without society.
We are intertwined with one another
but I believe it is high time
for young people to shape their own future
instead of allowing others,
to shape their future for them.
MUDA encourages youths to be involved
in different facets of society
that will help shape their world.
Never ever allow anyone to tell you
that you're too young to do something.
And if they do, don't be disheartened.
Just take that as a motivation
to work hard and to prove them wrong.
Syed uses social media to reach
young people to advocate for reforms
and to share his ideas for solutions
that are plaguing Malaysia.
It is important for us
to take the ownership of our country,
take ownership of our future
and I believe it's through our voice,
it's through our tweets
and social media, our TikTok,
in many and multiple different ways
can we get our views and voice out there
but it's important for us to start now,
and not wait for others
to open the doors for us.
Young people can shape the future
in many ways,
not just through politics
which is their inherent right to vote,
but also through civil action,
civil society, volunteerism.
When parts of Malaysia
were hit with massive floods,
MUDA volunteered to help victims
clean their homes after the water subsided.
There were 10,000 of people who are
registering as volunteers for free
from all parts of Malaysia.
For example, they were,
I mean university students,
who took some days off,
to get on a bus with randoms,
who they've never met,
to drive all the way to Pahang
with friends who they just met,
to volunteer for one whole week
for the flood cleanup efforts.
Syed's passion for public service
can be traced to his childhood.
He grew up in a
middle-class family in Johor,
which is the state neighbouring Singapore.
His parents have always been
role models for his strong work ethic.
My mother dedicated her life
to being a teacher
from the day she entered the first job
to the day where she retired,
just two years ago.
My father, worked in
multiple different odd jobs
he would commute from Johor
to Singapore every day.
He was working in construction,
he was working for Saudi Airlines
as one of the random ground officers
so he was doing many different menial jobs,
but he really provided for the family.
His mother inspired him to lead a life
of public service at a very young age.
I love my mom more than ever,
my mom is my greatest source of inspiration.
She dedicated her life to public service.
And a life as a public service
is not a glamorous life
but we need to gain value out of serving
and if you love serving,
then naturally you become a
much better person and you enjoy it.
I vividly remember when my mum,
she was a teacher, English teacher,
and she was also teaching tuition.
But instead of my mom doing it for money,
I always remember when I was
following my mum to school,
my mum will stop at the petrol station
then there will always be like
young children sitting on the floor.
So my mum will always take effort
to call one by one of them and ask
who are your parents and
where are you staying at.
And my mum will intentionally
speak to them in English,
and if they cannot respond well in English
then my mum say,
"Can I please get your parent's number?"
And from there onward my mum will actually
recruit them get them into the tuition class
and teach them for free for one whole year.
So that really, imprints
the importance of public service
and how you know a small action can lead
to a strong ripple effect for the future,
and I see those who my mum taught
have been very successful
and helping many others,
employing many others.
So that to some extent,
make me realise that public service
is the path I want to take.
Syed studied at the
Royal Military College in Kuala Lumpur
before pursuing a degree in law at the
International Islamic University of Malaysia.
However, back then
Syed never aspired to be a politician.
I was never interested in frontline politics,
but I've always had the passion
in policy-making and research.
But more into the backhand guy
doing research, policy,
advise and consultancy
it started when I got into debating.
So debating has always
been part of my passion.
I represented Malaysia in my university
in debating and won
multiple awards internationally.
But debating is about policy.
So instead of limiting my idealism
and policy know-how,
to the confinement of the debate room,
I wanted to take it further,
and I thought since politics
was the epicentre of change,
and be the best place to do so.
In 2016, he co-founded a
new political party called Bersatu.
That became the start
of his political career.
However, in 2017,
Syed would face a critical moment.
He was offered a scholarship
by Oxford University
to get his Masters in Public Policy.
He had to choose between
continuing his education or pursuing politics
You know being brought up
in a middle-class family,
raised by a teacher,
getting a scholarship to study
in one of the top universities
is a once in a lifetime opportunity
cause I always see my family cannot afford
to send me to Oxford without scholarship.
So when I got in with scholarship,
to reject it was a complete no-no in my mind.
However, Syed turned down the offer
as his priority was to
make Malaysia a better nation.
So I just thought If I were to leave
that will be a highly
irresponsible thing to do.
And if anything if I'm good enough,
I'm fairly certain,
that wherever I end
I will still get that offer,
I will still get that scholarship.
But I need to show my worth,
and my worth in the end
is still rooted in the fact
that I love this country,
I love being a public servant,
and I want to be the agent
of change more than ever.
So that was huge leap of faith.
His decision to be involved
in politics paid off
as Bersatu became part of the
ruling government in 2018.
He would be appointed
as the Minister of Youth and Sports,
making him Malaysia's youngest ever
Cabinet Member.
But he wasn't warmly received by
some senior members of Parliament.
A lot of my opponents would think that
because I'm young they can bully me,
you know just throw me off guard,
they can shout and think I'll cower
and don't know how to answer.
Until today you still hear
I'm a kid,
you're a kitten,
but I don't take offense in all of these,
instead of hating them,
I always talk to them after saying
"Why are you calling me a kitten,
I love cats,
so feel free to call me a cat."
The more they say
this kind of things the more,
the more it shows that there is a
greater need to educate fellow Malaysians
that being young is not a liability,
if anything it's an asset.
Despite being criticized by some members
of the older generation in Parliament,
Syed believes that the older generation
has also a vital role to play.
He regards former prime minister,
Tun Mahathir Mohamad as one of his mentors.
It would be gravely wrong, to say,
that the future of Malaysia
only lies in the hand of young people
and older generation do not have a place.
That's wrong.
Diversity is about acknowledging differences,
different categories
and coming together to
build that beloved country,
knowing that our lives are
interconnected to one another.
That the success of a young person,
enlightens a life of someone who old as well.
And that's the aim, vice versa.
So, I think having a balance viewpoint
can only be achieved with
great diversity and inclusivity.
However, the ruling government
collapsed in 2020
and Syed was removed from the
political party that he co-founded.
It was one of the
most difficult periods of his life.
But he would use it as inspiration
to form a new political party called MUDA.
MUDA means young in the Malay language.
It's time to create the movement,
the movement of young leaders
who may not have had
the place in any political party,
I think it's time to create
that new platform.
But we thought
this is the time for disruption,
what we do not have, we make out with
a lot of idealism, with a lot of hard work,
volunteers who willing to
work the ground for free,
in building the Malaysia
which they believe in.
MUDA's team works to
raise funds for those in need.
When Malaysia was emerging
from Covid-19 lockdowns,
Syed's team provided much needed resources
to those badly affected by the pandemic.
We mobilised resources to get food baskets
to those who are in need,
in my constituency, Muar,
I got more than 2,000
quality laptops and tablets
to more than 2,000 under privileged family
who are disconnected from the internet
and especially when education
was online, no longer offline.
The energy and passion shown by Malaysian
youths who came together truly moved Syed.
So, to me this really is inspiring
and that's exactly why I'm still in politics.
Because whenever I feel like
waving the white flag,
I start to realise that
there are many others.
This is not just about me.
If anything, I'm just the vehicle
for the aspiration of people
and when I see them doing this,
it really energises me forward.
And it's a constant reminder that
politic is bigger than a person.
And that as a vehicle I can be removed
and changed at any point in time,
but I just hope that the aspiration
will continue to move our country forward.
Over the years, MUDA has continued to grow.
From a party which made out
from only nine members
now we have almost 100,000
strong members across Malaysia,
young and old, multiracial, moderate,
those who really want to make Malaysia
a developed country
one which is world renowned
and we're very set in working the ground hard
to make that dream a reality.
Moving forward,
Syed believes that youths
must continue to push hard
to be included in conversations
on how to build the nation.
When there's a will, there's a way!
I've always believed in this line
it's on my life motto, to be honest
because I come from
a low-middle income family,
but yet I can still break doors open.
Keep on moving forward
no matter how difficult it gets.
And every time I get stuffed,
I keep on reminding myself,
when there's a will, there's a way.
No matter how difficult it is.
And I want to ensure I work remarkably hard
to achieve those goals.
And those goals are aligned
to making Malaysia
a great country and developed country.
When there's a will, there's a way.
The advice I'll give to young people
is the same advice I give to myself.
Do not expect for things to be given
to you on a silver platter.
In whichever level you are in,
when an opportunity is denied,
keep on knocking on the door
still being denied, knock louder and stronger
still being denied, punch the door open,
still being denied, kick that damn door open
and take ownership of your future.
I say that because
the road ahead will not be easy.
However, with that in mind,
I think we'll build a sense of resilience
and we'll imbue a sense of innovation
and critical thinking
for us to find different ways
to keep on moving forward.
So knock that door open
and break whatever walls are in front of you.