Dubbed "YB TikTok," he made waves as one of the first elected MPs to be on TikTok, using it to educate Malaysians on public policies and connect with the younger generation. Don't miss this inspiring and insightful conversation!
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00:00Not everyone is on TikTok. I mean, even the most boring of elected rep must be on TikTok.
00:10This is just an assumption, but I assume when you first started doing all your social media stuff
00:14while you were in politics, a lot of people were like, why are you doing this?
00:17Oh, absolutely. Especially TikTok. Oh my God. I remember in 2020, then there was no policymaker
00:23in Malaysia on TikTok yet. And me being there, I like to try something new, right? So I'm like,
00:27by that point in time, don't look at TikTok today. 2020, people thought TikTok was just like dancing
00:31and singing. So I went on it and people were like, oh my God, are you going to dance on TikTok? That
00:35will degrade your identity. That will degrade the dignity of your office, you know, as an
00:40elected member. I said, no, I'm going to go on TikTok and I'll talk about policies in a very fun
00:44way. And then I remember that I was being condemned, you know, people say I need YB TikTok,
00:49you know. But today, from being a pejorative, something negative, today is something which
00:52is hyper positive. Now people are trying to follow in your footsteps. Not everyone is on TikTok. I
00:56mean, even the most boring of elected reps must be on TikTok. Because that's really the social
01:02media of the future. The point is, just because you go on TikTok doesn't mean you have to dance,
01:06you have to, you know, do all these things. You just have to be yourself, be authentic. Today,
01:10the reason why I love TikTok so much, I mean, if you open my TikTok FYP, you'll see a lot of,
01:14I'm learning how to swim, so a lot of swimming videos. Oh, I was just going to ask what's on
01:17your FYP. And a lot of like, cat, not cat history. It's not the history of cats. They show all these
01:22fine graphical cats talking about history, like contemporary history. I get so hooked on it,
01:27you know, I'm like, oh my god, I learned so much about American history through cats talking about
01:31it. We were having this little conversation just before we started the podcast and I was like,
01:35slightly judging Sadiq because he always talks about his cats and now he tells me this.
01:40What was the turning point? Like, why did you decide to go from teaching into politics? That's
01:45my first question. And why did you decide, what was the one video maybe that made you realise like,
01:50you know what, this is how I need to use my social media? Interesting. Okay, I'll go to
01:55social media first because there's an overlap with politics as well. And this is why I say
01:59authenticity is very important, not just in social media, but also in public service. It's not a
02:04video, but it's a posting. Instagram wasn't that big, it was still Facebook, you know. It was pre
02:07TikTok. Yeah, definitely. TikTok was nowhere there to be seen. I think it was in 2013, 2014. So at
02:13that point in time, I haven't joined any political party, haven't joined frontline politics, but I
02:17was commenting on national issues. I was a columnist as well for a few news portals locally
02:22and internationally. So because of my outspokenness on some issues, a group of my skeptics
02:26decided to, you know, dig deep into all social media postings to see if there's any dirt. And
02:31then they blasted out through all their own then government-controlled portals,
02:36Saik Sadiq Kaki Klubbing. No, no, no, no. Kaki Klubbing. Kaki Disco. That's why I know the guy
02:44who wrote it must be super old, you know. He must be some boomer who still calls it disco,
02:49you know. But yeah. And then I remember that was made a huge issue to say, oh, the university
02:52should take action against me. And at the same time, you know, I should not be in front lines
02:57anymore because I'm already smeared, you know. But instead, and then people were questioning,
03:03media was asking me all these questions. So I thought instead of running away
03:06from the issue, I'll just own up to it, right? And I owned up to it. I said, yeah,
03:10that was me before. Today, I'm actually focused a lot more on public policies, et cetera, et cetera.
03:14And this is what I want to focus on. And the past will never distract me from moving my country
03:18and to bring my ideals forward. Because there is a voice of authenticity because usually then,
03:21again, the default setting is just deny. Whatever you can deny, deny. But why? I mean,
03:27I think in a way, we need to credit the intellect of fellow Malaysians that they are smart enough
03:31to know that no one is perfect. And actually those, the imperfections in a way make us the
03:35most perfect human beings, you know, because that's who we are. And if you're so afraid to
03:39own up to it, we think that everyone are perfect creatures on the face of this earth. I think we
03:44are truly denying the wisdom of God. But more importantly, we also know there's fragile
03:48creatures, that fragility through experience makes us a better person. So I think that's just
03:52one example of how social media actually helped. Because again, I could have picked a very
03:58different path, right? Deny everything. But social media in a way helped me because yeah,
04:01the attacks were quite vicious then because it wasn't just targeted to me, that was targeted to
04:05my family. You know, especially my mom was a teacher. Takalah apa ibu, cikgu, didik, anak
04:09macam ni, which is, sorry, ridiculous. Yeah. So, okay. There's one question I always ask
04:13because of course we have a lot of content creators on the podcast. I usually ask them
04:17how they deal with like the haters and the trolls, but I feel like it's a much bigger thing for you.
04:21So let me like ask you this. So I assume you do not agree with like cancel culture.
04:26That's interesting. That's a very loaded term, this cancel culture, because it truly depends
04:31on what the issues are. If the issue is about something of the past in which the person can
04:36own up to and have a legitimate reason to own up to it, apologize and find a way to move forward.
04:41I think we should be a lot more open and receptive to the apologies. Weekends is where I'll do my
04:47long rides. That's about five, six hours. That's where I listen to my weekly magazine in audio
04:52version, which is Economist. I know you're leaving something out. When did you schedule your time to
04:55play with your cat? Oh, no, that's constant. No, my cat, I am merely renting the house from my cat.
05:02My cat is the true owner, right? I mean, when you wake up in the morning, the cat will be next to
05:05you. Before you sleep, the cat will be next to you. Even when you don't want the cat to be next to you,
05:08the cat will be next to you. Worse when it jumps on you while you sleep. So the cat is a permanent
05:13feature which you cannot remove. Who are you as a like a friend though? Like do you have time for
05:19your friends? Like do you get to hang out? Do you get to like live like a normal life? Yeah, I mean,
05:24of course I do, but I try my best to integrate it together. So today, I am convincing all my
05:28friends to do all the sports activities together with me. And you can see the suffering in your
05:35face at the beginning. I feel like I will never see you outside. But today, I mean, I know they
05:40love it. Do they? I hope so, I hope so. But in the end, family and friends form the most important
05:51bond. A, which not just grounds you, but makes life worth it and meaningful. I mean, many studies
05:57have shown that you need three things to live a long life. Number one, good health via your diet.
06:01Second, good physical exercise. And third is good social circle. Social circles may be connection
06:06to God, friends, and family. Someone you can be yourself with. So I will never ever want to
06:10disconnect that network, no matter how different we may be. I've got one of those down. I socialise
06:16a lot. The others, not so much. You will notice at times, in the darkest of days, just talking to
06:21someone, especially a friend who you trust, is the best stress reliever. You don't have to take all
06:25the other medication. Talking to a friend and being yourself is the most meaningful thing ever.