Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman or also known as Syed Saddiq is a Malaysian activist and politician. Judging from his appearance, one may notice that Syed Saddiq is considered very young to be involved in politics. Currently served as the Minister of Youth and Sports and also the Youth Chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Partai Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), the 25-year old Syed Saddiq is no doubt Malaysia’s—even the Southeast Asia’s youngest minister.
Syed Saddiq was born in Johor Malaysia, on 6 December 1992 and earned his Bachelor of Laws from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He is famously known since his role as a master of ceremony for the signing of the Citizen’s Declaration in 2016 and as the Youth Chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party or ARMADA.
With the current news reported that Syed Saddiq just turned down a scholarship offer to earn a Master’s in Public Policy at Oxford University to remain in politics instead, one may consider Syed Saddiq has been a knowledgeable person since forever, while the fact is, his academic journey was not that smooth.
Famous for his achievements in the Asian British Parliamentary (ABP) Debating Championship, years ago Syed Saddiq was a different person. According to him, five years ago he barely spoke good English and even could not tell that Africa is a continent and Egypt is an African country. Not only that, he admits that he was once a radical for he only sat with Muslims. But people change, so does he. Because the truth is, he has been a nationalist at heart and perceives politics as the focal point of change in Malaysia.
Earlier last month Syed Saddiq proposed an idea to lower the voting age from 21 years old to become 18 years old and he hopes to implement the new policy ahead of the 15th General Election with the purpose of giving youth an early exposure to politics. Furthermore, as part of this plan, in order to familiarize the youth with the political process of the voting system, he also plans to conduct political exposure program in which this educational effort would be consulted with Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.