Youthful Malaysia minister Syed Saddiq uses world-class debating skills to silence critics of Israel athlete ban

Syed Saddiq has debated Asia’s best speakers and has come out on top three times. Now, he is taking on the world, using those same oratory skills to stand up for his country as they face a global backlash for a ban on Israeli athletes.

Malaysia’s boyish youth and sports minister, who recently spoke at the South China Morning Post’s “Asia Matters” conference in Hong Kong, has become the face of the government’s hardened stance to refuse visas to Israeli athletes wanting to compete in the World Para Swimming Championships in the Borneo state of Sarawak in July.

Neither Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad nor Saddiq is worried. And with Mahathir allowing his top sports official to fight the global PR battle, the 26-year-old three-time Asian debating champion has gone on the attack, showing little tolerance or sympathy for accusations of mixing politics with sport.

BBC current affairs questions and answer programme Hard Talk, which is renowned for trying to intimidate guests by cutting off cogent answers mid-sentence, felt the fury of a baby-faced Saddiq when they asked why he would deny Malaysia’s athletes the chance to compete against world-class opposition.

“If hosting an international event is more important than safeguarding the interests of our Palestinian brothers and sisters from being mutilated time after time, if that is more important, that means we have lost our moral conscience and moral compass,” he replied, twice preventing host Shaun Ley from interrupting.