In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Syed Abdul Rahman is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Syed Saddiq. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.
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 the Member of Parliament (MP) for Muar since May 2018. In 2023, he was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and money laundering.[1]
He served as the Minister of Youth and Sports in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020, thus making him the youngest federal minister in Malaysian history. He is a founding member of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) and served as its 1st President from September 2020 until November 2023.[2] He was also a founding member of the Malaysian 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 of corruption, including criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of funds, and money 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 the High Court of all the corruption charges, sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment, a RM 10 million fine and two strokes of the cane.[1] He immediately resigned as the MUDA president following his conviction and was replaced by his deputy, Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz as the acting president. Prior to the conviction, Syed Saddiq withdrew his support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his government after Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had 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 Minister Fadillah Yusof for negotiations of giving allocations to opposition MPs for a few times, while supporting and advocating for reforming the pension scheme for Cabinet ministers, MPs and Members 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 a Singaporean, who used to work as a construction worker in Singapore. His mother used to be an English teacher.[3] The youngest of four siblings, he had studied at the Royal Military College (RMC) before continuing his studies at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Bachelor of Laws (LLB). During his time at IIUM, he competed in an Asian-level debate competition and successfully won the United Asian Debating Championship (UADC).[4] 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.[5]
In 2017, he allegedly rejected a counter offer to pursue his studies at Oxford University, England [Oxford University however denied the offer] to remain active in politics.[6] 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 the Chevening Scholarship proposal to pursue a Master in Public Policy at Oxford University.[7]
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 the scandal of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).[5]
Saddiq was the leader of ARMADA (Malay: Angkatan Bersatu Anak Muda); the youth wing of the BERSATU.[13] 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.[14][15]
2018 Malaysian general election, Minister of Youth and Sports
Saddiq made his debut contesting the 2018 general election (GE14) for the Muar parliamentary seat and was elected to the Parliament.[16][17] 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 since Malaysia's independence.[5][18]
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".[21] However, he agreed that first a political exposure programme for the young people of Malaysia is needed.[22] In July 2019, Saddiq tabled a Bill in Parliament to amend the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age to 18[23] but it was withdrawn and re-tabled later after it was tweaked to accommodate some changes.[24]
The Dewan Rakyat on 16 July unanimously passed the re-tabled Constitution (Amendment) Act 2019 bill to lower the voting age, as well as eligibility to contest in election to 18 and automatic registration of voters by Election Commission (EC).[25][26][27] 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 by Yang di-Pertuan Agong.[28][29][30]
Following his expulsion from BERSATU, Mahathir and his-led MPs have formed a new party,[31] named Party of Homeland's Fighters (PEJUANG).[32] However instead of joining PEJUANG, on 21 August Syed Saddiq announced that he will be establishing a new multi-racial, youth-centric party.[33][34]
In July 2021, he was charged with criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of funds belonging 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 the 2018 general election. He had claimed trial to both counts of corruption and was released on bail of RM330,000 with additional conditions.[36] He claimed that the allegations were brought against him because he refused to back the Perikatan Nasional administration.[37]
In August 2021, Syed Saddiq was charged again with two corruption charges of money laundering. According to the charge sheet, the accused transferred RM50,000 from his bank account to his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account on 16 June 2018 and another RM50,000 on 19 June 2018. Saddiq pleaded not guilty to the charges.[38] He claimed that Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, the BERSATU youth chief, came to his house before he was accused and persuaded him to rejoin BERSATU and support Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.[39] 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.[40]
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.[41]
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.[42]
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.[43]
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.[44] On 9 November 2023, Syed Saddiq was found guilty of all the corruption charges by the High Court, sentencing him to 7 years' imprisonment, a RM 10 million fine and two strokes of the cane.[45] Syed Saddiq was granted a stay of execution of his sentence while pending his appeal.[46]
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,[47] and criticised Israel for illegally appointing themselves as the "guardians" of Palestine.[48] He also stands firm with Malaysia's ban on Israeli athletes,[49] and has called for the freedom of Palestine.[50]
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.[51]
During a forum on 1 September 2020, when Syed Saddiq was asked whether the MUDA party would accept LGBT members, he stated:[52]
We should never forget Malaysia's DNA, which is the Federal Constitution and 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 Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who criticized participants in the Bersih 4.0 demonstration.[53] In November 2015, Saddiq admitted that he had supported Najib Razak, but later said Najib had embarrassed the country because of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.[54] In October 2018, he said that Ketuanan Melayu had ended by calling the term nothing more than a mere meaningless phrase. His statement then evoked various responses from many parties.[55] He defended the actions of four academics who allegedly submitted an executive summary on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the Conference of Rulers and insisted their actions were part of the academic freedom promised by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in celebrating democracy and differences of opinion in Malaysia.[56]
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”.[57]
Probed for video on police brutality
In May 2021, he was investigated by the Malaysian police for a video he posted on TikTok. In this video, he demanded justice for the late A. Ganapathy who recently died in police custody. Saddiq starts the video[58] with 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".
However, MCMC has denied instructing the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) to seize Saddiq's phone, they merely "acted as a technical agency in assisting police investigation".[62] Despite claims from Saddiq that this was a "politically motivated move orchestrated by MCMC",[59] the MCMC stated that they will continue to "provide assistance and technical recommendations for the investigation without any hidden agenda including political agenda".[62]
^"Syed Saddiq: Wan Fayhsal pujuk saya sokong PM sebelum didakwa". Malaysiakini. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2022. Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who faces charges of misappropriating Bersatu funds, claimed that Bersatu Youth (Armada) chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal persuaded him to return to the party and support the National Alliance government.
^[LIVE] Orang muda: Kenapa perlu parti baharu?, September 2020, retrieved 10 September 2022, minute 1:08:14, "Jangan kita sesekali lupakan DNA negara malaysia, iaitu perlembagaan persekutuan dan rukun negara yang harus dijadikan tiang ataupun payung kepada sesebuah parti tersebut. Sebab itu kalau boleh kita perlu membudayakan rukun negara. Sebelum setiap program, bangun, baca rukun negara sematkan dalam hati. Dan jangan lupa, apa-apa dasar yang ingin digubal, keterbukaan tahap mana pun, tidak boleh kebelakangkan perlembagaan persekutuan dan rukun negara. Selagi kita pegang teguh kepada dua perkara ini, saya yakin, insyaallah, kita boleh berjaya."
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