KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Johor lawmaker Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today explained his pride in being accepted into the National University of Singapore (NUS) after being criticised for making a big deal of it on social media.
The 27-year-old disclosed that it had always been his dream to gain a place in NUS — widely recognised among the top ranking universities around the world — because of his father.
“My father was a labourer in Singapore and NUS is the best university there.
“As a son, I want to make him happy and proud,” the Muar MP replied former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah on Twitter.
“As a father, I am sure you understand,” he added.
Salam Tan Sri.
Saya kongsikan berita di social media, kerana memang impian saya dari dahulu untuk mendapat tempat di NUS.
Ayah saya pekerja buruh di Singapura & NUS universiti terbaik di sana. As a son, I want to make him happy & proud.
As a father, i am sure you understand✌️ https://t.co/EbkYdCI3roAdvertisement— Syed Saddiq 🇲🇾🌺 (@SyedSaddiq) September 22, 2020
Syed Saddiq recently formed a new Youth-centric political party called Muda after his unceremonious exit from the ruling Bersatu. His grand aspirations have been dismissed by some older allies and derided by those in the opposite bloc.
Irwan had scoffed at Syed Saddiq’s announcement of his NUS scholarship as a senior fellow in public service at its Lee Kuan Yew school in a tweet yesterday, saying there were many youths who pursued higher education while working without publicising it on social media.
Syed Saddiq had previously announced that he would be starting online classes at NUS from September 21.
He also shared on Twitter that he had twice turned down an offer at Oxford University for a degree in politics.
The first offer was reportedly a RM400,000 scholarship in 2017. The second rejection was purportedly prior to his contest in GE14 two years ago when he was offered the Chevening Scholarship from the British government for a masters in public policy.
