R. Ramanan must either be the luckiest man in Malaysian politics today—or the most talented.
There is no third explanation.
I say this because of the astonishing speed with which the ex-MIC treasurer has moved from one success to another in an extraordinarily short period of time. Judging by his trajectory, Ramanan is either a once-in-a-generation political prodigy or a man exceptionally favoured by the “gods of Putrajaya.”
Consider Anwar Ibrahim’s recent cabinet reshuffle. Without question, its biggest winner is R. Ramanan.
He has been elevated from deputy minister to Minister of Human Resources, replacing DAP’s Steven Sim, who has in turn been shifted—one might even say demoted—to the less prestigious Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development.
The obvious question is: why?
Why was Ramanan promoted, and why was Steven Sim removed from Human Resources?
If performance were the yardstick, this decision would make little sense. Steven Sim cannot reasonably be accused of having failed as Human Resources Minister. In fact, in a portfolio notorious for swallowing ministers whole, Sim performed better than most.
The Human Resources Ministry is a political minefield. Trade unions are perpetually hostile, scandals are never far away, and ministers often fall in spectacularly undignified fashion. Sim survived all of that. He endured years of pressure from unions such as NUBE - I would know - I was briefly commissioned by NUBE at a time when it was engaged in its offensive against Steven Sim, and I can attest with a great deal of confidence, that the affront that NUBE took against Steven was probably not wholly professional, and might even be faulted as being personal - but regardless of the fierce opposition, Sim had weathered it all, and even weathered the explosive HRDF scandal, without being dragged down personally, and exited the ministry without imploding politically.
By Malaysian standards, that alone should place Steven Sim's performance to be above average.
So what, then, qualifies Ramanan to replace him?
What exceptional achievements did Ramanan demonstrate as Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development that would make him the obvious choice to helm such a sensitive and complex ministry?
Your guess is as good as mine.
All that we know is that when confronted the the bright fortune or R. Ramanan, Steven Sim's skills and achievements, were simply no match.
The only explanation that truly makes sense is also the simplest: Anwar probably really, really, really likes Ramanan.
By PKR standards, Ramanan is a political latecomer. He joined the party only in 2020—long after PKR and Pakatan Harapan had endured years of struggle, sacrifice, repression, and political exile, and two years after PH had already formed the government in 2018.
During the PKR party elections last May, , Rafizi Ramli himself criticised Ramanan, remarking that he was still unfamiliar with PKR’s culture and history—an allusion to the unsuitability of Ramanan’s political style and campaigning methods within PKR’s ethos.
What exactly Rafizi meant by this “unsuitability” remains unclear. What is clear is that it has done absolutely nothing to slow Ramanan’s ascent. Even as veterans like Rafizi—who forged their political identities in PKR’s years of hardship—cast doubts on his place within the party, Ramanan has continued to rise, unimpeded.
In the 2022 general election, barely two years after joining PKR, Ramanan was handed the Sungai Buloh seat—a high-profile and relatively safe constituency. He won it by the narrowest of margins against Umno heavyweight Khairy Jamaluddin.
By December 2023, just a year later, he was appointed a deputy minister.
In May 2025, just a year and a half after that, he secured a PKR vice-presidency.
And now, within six months of that victory, he scores again—this time emerging as the Minister of Human Resources, after relegating the well performing Steven Sim in the process.
In his rapid march upward, Ramanan has taken down some of the biggest names in Malaysian politics: Rafizi Ramli, Khairy Jamaluddin, Nik Nazmi and Steven Sim.
I am not the only one to have noticed how extraordinary this rise is—especially given the absence of any substantial track record or major policy triumphs to justify it.
After Ramanan defeated Nik Nazmi for the PKR vice-president post, Khairy Jamaluddin reportedly messaged Nik Nazmi. Nik replied: “We have something in common—both defeated by Ramanan.”
Khairy then added, cryptically but tellingly:
“There are times when we rise quickly and fall just as fast. It all depends on how we manage success.”
Khairy should know. He himself rose with breathtaking speed during the administration of his father-in-law, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, only to be expelled from Umno in 2023 under Zahid Hamidi, and to end up today in political wilderness—a ronin without a master.
Fortune, after all, is fickle.
When fortune favours you, you must make hay while the sun shines—and work relentlessly to build a legacy. You must do so because when the tides turn—and they always do—it is only your legacy and contribution that determine whether you sink, float, or swim.
If the only thing Ramanan possesses is the favour of the gods of Putrajaya, then I have little doubt that as quickly as he has risen, he will fall. And when one falls after rising too rapidly, the fall is never gentle—it is always a crash.
The next time we hear about Ramanan, let us hope it is for his achievements, his reforms, and his legacy—not merely for his luck and proximity to power.
Looking at Ramanan’s extraordinary good fortune, I am more convinced than ever that I was right about Anwar Ibrahim.
At best, he may unburden us from the weight of the past, and that too is a 50-50.
One thing for certain though, if we rely on him to win the future, we will end up beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists, in a time that has passed.
For all the talk about reform and change, when push comes to shove, Anwar has repeatedly shown himself to be a product of the very regime he once fought against.
Just like in the old order, under Anwar Ibrahim loyalty still trumps competence, preference still outweighs performance, and politics remains a game of personal calculus rather than public good.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.