Opinion: Khairy, Rafizi, Syed Saddiq - Will they form a “Superteam” as speculated?

Opinion: Khairy, Rafizi, Syed Saddiq - Will they form a “Superteam” as speculated?


4 Jul 2025 • 7:00 AM MYT



TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher

Image credit: Edisi9


Amid speculation that Khairy Jamaluddin might make a political comeback by re-joining UMNO, party Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi has recently not only poured cold water on the idea and dismissed it it outright, he also suggested with a touch of sarcasm, that perhaps it is better for Khairy to form a new political party alongside Rafizi Ramli and Syed Saddiq instead.


“It would be nice if Rafizi, Khairy, Nik Nazmi (Nik Ahmad), Shahril Hamdan, Akmal Nasir, Syed Saddiq (Syed Abdul Rahman), Wan Saiful Wan Jan, and Larry Sng form a new party together. In football, when star players come together, the team turns formidable and becomes champions for years,” Puad wrote in a Facebook post.


Puad seems to have a personal dislike for Khairy. I say so, because in a separate interview with Utusan Malaysia, he had no qualms in expressing his open disdain for Khairy.


“He still has that attitude… he wants to be the hero, the only smart one. He thinks he’s the only one with ideas. That’s dangerous in a political party,” said Puad.


Other than Khairy, it doesn’t look like Puad is very fond of Rafizi either.


“Rafizi is now seen as the ‘king of failed formulas.’ When PADU fails, Rafizi fails. PADU is Rafizi, and Rafizi is PADU,” Puad had also mocked Rafizi in an article in The Star earlier.


Hearing Puad’s disdain of Rafizi, Rafizi had even openly declared that Puad just doesn’t like him.


Whatever problem that Puad has with Khairy and Rafizi however, like the saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and even an enemy can give you good advice.


Personally, I think it would be great if Khairy, Rafizi and Syed Saddiq did indeed tag team and form a super team.


If they do, I promise I will even vote for their party, although I haven’t voted for years, because I direly would love to see a Young Turk party having a prominent place in the country, and wean the nation of its unhealthy fascination with past expiry date geriatric politicians.


I think it is about time that the parliament passes a law that says that a politician cannot stand for election past the average life expectancy date of the nation.


The life expectancy date of a Malaysian male is 73. All of our prominent politicians – from Anwar to Muhyiddin to Hadi – can therefore be said to have passed their expiry date.


I honestly think that if you still don’t want to retire even when you can hear death knocking at the door, you are too addicted to power and control.


I truly think that the view that old people have a lot to offer the nation, because they are full of wisdom and experience, is strictly for the birds.


In whichever field that you look at, the people who generate the most value tend to be between the ages of 30 to 50. Whether you are a movie maker or a scientist or a CEO, your best work tends to be done within this age bracket.


Einstein did his best work before he was 30. Ace directors like Spielberg, John Woo and Mani Ratnam also did their best work before they entered their 60s. I am 100 percent sure that legendary CEOs like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates were much better before their 60s than after.


It is a fallacy to believe that experience keeps growing with age. At a certain age, likely after your 40s or 50s, experience will plateau, skills will diminish, energy level will fall and your knowledge will become outdated. At this stage, your ability to generate value will almost certainly decline as compared to someone who is younger than you.


When you are past the average life expectancy of the population, death might also be so near to you, that you can see with your own eyes, because you will be attending a funeral once every couple of months, when it used to be once every couple of years. When death is so near to you that you feel its presence once every couple of months, I truly don’t understand why anyone who is rational and objective, would want to continue to cling to their job, rather than prepare their mind and heart to face death.


Other than being bad for the mental and spiritual health of these old geezer, I also think that having past expiry date geriatrics in a strategic position is bad for the country.


What our country needs to do to rejuvenate and vitalise our economy and society is to put the bulk of control, access and resources in the country, in the hands of younger people who are in their prime, so that they can generate the sort of value that can take our country forward.


To do this, we actually have to pry open the hands of the older generation, and force them to release the control, access and resources that they are hogging, into the hands of the young people.


By the way, in case some of you are thinking that I am just saying this because I support Khairy or Rafizi or Syed Saddiq, I would like to inform you right here that I don’t even like any one of them.


I have had issues with Khairy from the day he issued the vaccine mandates during his time as the health minister. As an unvaccinated person, I had a heck of a lot of trouble because of that. I can even say that his vaccine mandates might be one of the main reasons that I had to change lanes and go from being a tutor to becoming a writer.


I also actually agree with Puad that Rafizi blows a lot of hot air with his formulas and overly abstruse and tortuous explanations, without ever actually achieving anything. Had he succeeded with redistributing the nation's wealth to the working class with PADU, I would have definitely changed my mind about him, but the fact that PADU is an abject failure that lost even without trying to win, makes him pathetic in my eyes.


As for Syed Saddiq, I honestly think this guy is in the wrong field – this guy is a celebrity more than someone capable of leading or is worth following. Whenever he says or does something, I can’t help wondering whether he is leading and representing, or acting like he is leading and representing.


Despite that, I swear to all of you here right now, if they form a Young Turk superteam to take on the past expiry date of politicians that are holding the roost in the country, I will drag myself to the voting booth and vote for their party.


Look, the truth is talent and ability alone is not enough – you also need a platform and opportunity to shine. I might not be impressed with Khairy, Syed Saddiq or Rafizi today, but I trust them enough to think that they can manage the nation – at least they are not going to do a worse job than the the old geezers that are helming it today – and if given opportunity and platform to shine, I think there is a good chance that they might step up to the plate and transform into becoming the sort of leaders that might fulfil or exceed our expectations.


With the half past geriatrics politicians we have now, what we see is really what you get. If you are already disappointed with them today, you have nothing to look forward to, because at their age, it is all downhill from where they are now.


With Khairy, Rafizi and Syed Saddiq though, even if you are disappointed with them today, at least you can still hope for better things tomorrow.


Anyway, to end this, I will just say that I truly think that it is in our self-interest to start giving those in their 30s, 40s and early 50s a chance to take the steering wheel in our country. If those in their 30s, 40s 50s take the steering wheel, than the people that work with and for them will likely be in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s too, and the more people who are in their 20s to 50s hold strategic position in the country, the more revitalised, energetic, vibrant and enthusiastic will the country be.


As for all the half past geriatric politicians who feel powerless or useless if they don't exercise power and control in their work place, I truly believe that they have an addiction problem. They need therapy in order to wean themselves out of their addiction to power and control, not more opportunities to indulge in it.

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kt comments:

There is wisdom, caution and calculations in age, matey 😀😁😅😆😊