Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara and Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya believes that Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s conviction on embezzlement and money laundering charges could well be the end of his political career and of his party Muda
According to Azmi, this is so because “no one will believe him again, not even his ardent supporters.”
I, for one, have no idea what Azmi is talking about.
I am quite sure that no one in the country ever saw Syed Saddiq as a person of utmost honesty, for his conviction last week to have destroyed that reputation.
Syed Saddiq to most of us is about as believable as any other politician in the country. As much as we believed in him before his conviction, we still believe him today. This is not saying much of course, but the difference between the believability of the Syed Saddiq we knew last month and the Syed Saddiq we know today, even if there is such a difference, is so minute, that I am more than sure that his conviction is hardly the cataclysmic event that Azmi Hassan is making it out to be.
Being honest and believable is also hardly the criterion for having a successful career in politics in our country. If there is indeed such a creature called an honest politician in the country, I will bet a ringgit and thirty-five cents that none of us knows that politician’s name, because that politician likely never made much of a career for himself in politics.
And let’s not forget, no one really knows what exactly the crime that Syed Saddiq is purported to have committed. While all of you who are reading this right now are probably aware that Syed Saddiq was slapped with a very harsh and humiliating punishment by the court last week, none of you, I am quite sure, really know what he did to deserve it.
We are so unaware of his actual crime, that believe it or not, most Malaysians actually believe that Syed Saddiq is simply being punished for leaving the unity government.
And let’s not forget that Syed Saddiq is also young and has a high brand recognition. I daresay that he is recognized by Malaysians much as Anwar or Mahathir is recognized. I have secondary school and college students who have no idea who Zahid Hamidi or Fadhillah is, and I have friends from different races who have no idea who Ramasamy of Vigneswaran is, but everybody seems to know who Syed Saddiq is. The kind of brand recognition that Syed Saddiq has, will probably give him a space in politics for the rest of his life.
As for his conviction, to be brutally honest, being sentenced by a court doesn’t really mean anything much these days, especially so if you are a politician.
Which politician today doesn’t have a court case? Anwar used to be in jail and Najib is in jail. As sad as it sounds, having a court case these days might just be a right of passage for politicians. If you haven’t spent some time inside, you might just not be seen as having made your bones in politics.
That Syed Saddiq by his own volition has resigned as the President of Muda also has earned him a degree of approval from the public. Critics might argue that Syed Saddiq giving up his post as the president of Muda is about as meaningful as a beggar willing away all his wealth to charity, but in a country that is used to seeing politicians who would rather destroy the country and die before giving up their seat, it was indeed a delight to see a president of a political party step aside by his own free will.
To the least, we have to thank Syed Saddiq for delighting us with such a possibility. For all you know, a generation might pass before we will ever get to see such a sight again.
In any case, I for one believe that this unfortunate season in Syed Saddiq’s career might even be a blessing in disguise.
As Seneca said : “Fire is the test of gold as adversity is the test of strong men.”
One of MUDA’s biggest problems, you have to admit, is the perception that it is basically made up of kids who are playing grown-ups. They look like adults, sound like an adult and carry themselves like adults, but something inside you can’t help but suspect that what you are actually seeing is just a bunch of kids who are mimicking adults.
Who knows, this test of fire that Syed Saddiq and Muda is undergoing now might be exactly what Muda and Syed Saddiq need to show themselves and us as to what they are truly made of.
The most significant difference between a kid and an adult is that you can count on an adult, and the clearest sign that you can count on someone is that they will remain steadfast even when they undergo trials and tribulations.
Like steel tested by fire and hammer, I hope this season of tribulation for Muda will see them emerging stronger than ever.
And if not, what does it matter anyway?
I hate to sound cynical, but a part of me can’t help but feel that even if they are found wanting, the Muda politicians and Syed Saddiq are still going to be around for many more years and decades to come.
Syed Saddiq is just 30 years of age. In the worst-case scenario, which I seriously doubt will occur, Syed is going to spend the next 7 years in jail. That means that by the time he is released, he is just going to be around 37 or 38. That is still considered young for a politician.
Considering that the rest of the Muda politicians are most likely around the same age as Syed, and considering that almost all of our reigning politicians are so old that all of them are likely going to go to bed tonight with the doubt as to whether they will wake up tomorrow, I truly believe that in the end, the Muda politicians will triumph over all our top politicians simply by outliving them.
Nehru Sathiamoorthy was a columnist at FMT, a frequent contributor to the South China Morning Post, MalaysiaNow and Malaysia-Today. By day he is a mathematics teacher in the Klang Valley, and by night he writes.
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