‘So handsome’: Stung by wasps, Malaysian politician Syed Saddiq completes 11km military obstacle race and sets hearts on fire

Syed Saddiq was stung three times by wasps, yet he finished an 11km military-style obstacle course after only four hours sleep. Hours later, Malaysia’s youngest minister was cheering on his country against Myanmar in an AFF Cup football match.

Saddiq’s adventurous lifestyle is setting hearts aflutter thanks to his boyish – well, he is 26 – good looks and his eagerness to get physically stuck in.

“So handsome”, “So lovely my heart” and “Crush on you” are some of the comments by female fans enamoured by the exertions and suffering of Malaysia’s minister for youth and sports during a hectic Saturday.

First he took part in the Warriors Challenge, an 11km event organised by the National Defence University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. It is the only military-style obstacle race in Malaysia and Saddiq wrote on Twitter that he completed the course in one hour and 50 minutes.

During the arduous race, he was stung three times by wasps. Despite the stings, Syed continued the course, carrying heavy logs, dragging himself under muddy walls and finishing on a high in pouring rain.

“Warriors Challenge, 11km Obstacle run, completed in 1hour 50minutes, fuelled by only 4hours of sleep. Next year, Ironman.” he wrote on Twitter.

“I got stung three times [by the wasps] … A welcoming gift from them.”

Later that evening, he was one of more than 83,000 fans at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium who watched Malaysia’s game with Myanmar.

Wearing the Tiger-striped Malaysia colours he was photographed jumping for joy with his hands in the air after a goal as the home team stormed to a 3-0 victory.

“Thanks to the 83,337 homeland football lovers at the Stadium who provided solid support,” he wrote.

Saddiq is among the most popular politicians in Malaysia because of his age and his pedigree.

He is a three-time Asian debating champion and is responsible for the drive to promote e-sports in Malaysia and around the region, vowing to inject 10 million ringgit (HK$18.7 million) to develop the industry and asking for the corporate sector to match that amount.

One of the first to do so was Min-Liang Tan, the billionaire co-founder of Singapore-based gaming hardware maker Razer.