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.
