Vocal Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman may receive his much-sought allocation, confirmed Deputy PM Fadillah Yusof who is tasked to negotiate with opposition MPs on the matter.
Syed Saddiq has been raising the issue of fair and equal allocation for all MPs for years. This includes walking from Muar to Parliament in a bid to raise funds for his constituency. Syed Saddiq collected RM160,000 through his 200-kilometer ‘Langkah Muar’
He even raised it in the latest Parliamentary session, claiming that discussions were held but reached a dead-end as the government was still ambiguous about the allocation
But an unexpected Baju Melayu campaign got everyone talking about his effort.
For the uninitiated, the former Muda President has agreed to partner with local fashion brand Prima Valet to promote the brand's clothing along with Sabah celebrity Bella Astillah, claiming that he managed to raise RM1 million in doing so.
While nobody thought that the chemistry between the two would take off like a rocket, their campaign reached the floor of Parliament, and even Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim followed the hype.
Prima Valet promotional videos on Syed Saddiq's TikTok account, defined by the casual laughter, the long eye stares and the cheeky interactions between the pair, easily reached millions in views.
As one observer sums it perfectly: it is a cross between a political fundraiser and a Bollywood love story.
"As if the social media drama wasn’t enough, Bella Astillah and her son Ayden made a surprise visit to Parliament. If anyone was still doubting Syed Saddiq’s strategy, this move was a masterclass in silencing critics.
Whether it was an innocent visit or a strategic PR move to counter his detractors, it worked. Suddenly, the noise shifted from questioning his credibility to gushing over the “family-friendly” narrative. If the goal was to control the public narrative, mission accomplished," wrote Ainol Razman Ghazaly.
The campaign went a bit over the top with a trip to Gunung Kinabalu, where Syed Saddiq dressed his Baju Melayu during the climb.
But this raises another perspective: Should MPs resort to this kind of ‘populist’ action? Already a fellow MP was disturbed by Saddiq's actions during the campaign. Syerleena Rashid, Bukit Bendera rep reminded Syed Saddiq to focus on his duty and not be carried away with artists.
This is, of course, rich coming from an MP who received government allocation without terms and conditions.
The subject of equal allotment has been debated and raised by the Perikatan Nasional MPs, who hitherto failed to reach an agreement with the government. PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said that the coalition has reasons to not agree to the T&C.
He claimed that the terms set in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) were “unusually strict”, as if they were forced to surrender everything to the government.
The bigger picture that the public must consider is that politics should be about policy, institutions and nation-building.
Malaysia is not short of populist politicians, with the legendary one being Anwar himself and his evergreen slogan: Menang hari ini, esok minyak turun!
With the rise of social media, metrics like clicks, views, engagements, and trending short-form videos- designed for masses with the attention span of a goldfish- have become the driving force of political campaigning.
In Syed Saddiq's case, TikTok’s algorithm did the heavy lifting. He’s getting his allocation not because of any principled decision by the government, but because they saw an opportunity to ride the wave and soften the backlash against their perceived unfairness to Muar voters.
Now, it is interesting to how this unfolds in the next few years, come the 16th General Election, Will PH strike a deal with the former Sports and Youth minister and allow him to retain his seat?
And that if the court decided to overturn Saddiq's sentence in his appeal this 19th March. 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.
However, the court granted his application to stay the execution of the sentence pending appeal, allowing him to defer his punishment.
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