Syed Saddiq to Ramasamy: Don’t ever think you can silence this young man

(NST) – In a strongly worded statement, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman cautioned a senior politician against thinking he could be silenced.

“I did not enter politics to ‘play safe’. I did not enter politics to be a ‘yes man’. I did not enter politics to keep silent and close my ears when the rakyat has spoken,” Syed Saddiq who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief posted on Facebook tonight.

He was referring to Penang deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy who had earlier criticised the youth and sports minister following a memorandum submitted by several Bersatu Youth exco members calling for the resignation of minister P Waytha Moorthy.

Ramasamy said such a call was an insult to Prime Minister and Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s intelligence as Waytha Moorthy was appointed as National Unity and Social Well-Being minister and was not a member of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

He also called for action to be taken against the leadership of Bersatu Youth as according to him, they had questioned the decision made by their own party chairman.

“I am prepared for action to be taken against me if what I did was wrong. I will never apologise for speaking my mind,” Syed Saddiq said.

Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq suggested for Ramasamy to also take action against PKR’s Dr Afif Bahardin as the Penang exco member had also called for Waytha Moorthy to resign.

“Isn’t he your colleague from Penang? Heck he was even an exco with you,” Syed Saddiq remarked.

In sharing several news articles, Syed Saddiq also suggested for Ramasamy to take action against Parti Amanah Negara’s (Amanah) youth wing which made the same call pertaining to Waytha Moorthy.

“Don’t forget to ‘school’ Datuk Kadir Jasin as well,” he added, referring to an article in which the veteran newsman said it was better for Waytha Moorthy to step down.

“Your own party’s youth wing (DAPSY) had also once urged for the Education Minister to resign,” Syed Saddiq said, adding that when Bersatu Youth leaders did the same thing, they were labelled as betraying Pakatan Harapan (PH) and playing up racial sentiments as well as accused of being like Umno and PAS.

“This has nothing to do about (sic) race. It’s about agreeing to disagree, about not suppressing people’s right to freely express their viewpoints.

“As Armada (Bersatu Youth) chief, I am responsible for letting my friends speak and to not suppress their feelings. We believe in the slogan ‘berani kerana benar’,” he said.

“So YB, don’t ever think you can silence this young man,” Syed Saddiq added.