There were many fiery speeches made on as Parliament opened on 13 September, many of which coming from opposition MPs voicing out the frustrations of the constituents towards the shambolic COVID response plans by the PN government.
However, none were as vociferous as Syed Saddiq, who touched on various topics ranging from calling for greater cooperation in reform deals between State and Federal governments towards easing travel restrictions for separated couples.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/591650
This is all well and good, but where was he when his support was needed most?
Now Syed Saddiq, by all accounts is a social media darling, with millions of young followers across the country.
Yet on 31 July, he was nowhere to be seen. He was not even seen when the youth organizers were detained by the police during their candlelight vigil on 20 August.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/588307
This is political exploitation pure and simple – if he was willing to tacitly support the movement on his platform, he should at the very least have shown up on the ground.
The #lawan protests are a manifestation of years of endless youth frustration towards the status quo. The youth have spent nearly a decade of being promised false hopes and dreams – some of which were even proposed by Saddiq himself as an election campaign promise.
While those with shorter-term memories would think that Syed Saddiq is a force for change – we should all remember that he is an opportunist at heart. We do not have to look far back, just look at how he behaved on the 27 November 2020 – during the bloc for voting for the 2021 Budget.
Yet this is the standard operating procedure for Saddiq. To talk the talk, but to never walk the walk.
Take a look at the 2021 Budget where despite weeks of drum-beating for the rakyat, he simply did not stand up to support the motion for a bloc voting to pass the 2021 Budget – and did not join the 13 MPs Opposition MPs in ultimately rejecting it at its policy stage.
“I cannot speak on behalf of the other MPs, but I personally believe, in hindsight, that what happened was wrong and I want to apologise,” he said in an interview with local radio.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/11/27/syed-saddiq-apologises-for-allowing-budget-to-pass/
The bigger questions remain.
Why the sudden u-turn with his “apology” when it is the right thing to do for the poorer communities in our country?
The Budget, the biggest to be tabled in our nation’s history, worth RM 322.5 billion, should have been better scrutinized, ever more so by Saddiq, who has spent his entire career posturing himself as a youth-first politician.
As we know, many young Malaysians are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic – with many saw their income either lost or reduced significantly. This is an unprecedented event in the history of the country – where infrastructure needs to be upgraded, medical capacity has to be buffed up, and the burden of the people is at an all time high.
The apology that he did not reject – in effect is a form of treachery to the rakyat who are going through hard times.
He is indeed, after all, a spineless politician that twists and turns when he felt the need to.
Along with this double standard and selective behaviour, we all recall the many empty statements that did not materialise – 400 thousand jobs to be created in Johor, the abolishment of PTPTN loans, from back when he was in Pakatan.
Syed Saddiq still thinks that he gets to escape from tough situations by saying the “right” things – at least to his audiences – and be done with it. Again and again, we have seen him exhibiting the same behaviour when it comes to the struggle of the Malaysian people – only fit for props for his social media and nothing else, with not a single tangible policy supported to uplift the very youth that puts him on the pedestal.
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