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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

For years, Malaysians watched singer-actress Bella Astillah’s heartbreak unfold in public.
Her tribulations – a troubled marriage, cheating scandal and very public split – struck a chord with many, underscoring the stigma that divorced women face in a conservative Muslim-majority society.
When lawmaker Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 33, proposed to her – first on Mount Kinabalu and later at a formal engagement ceremony in Kuala Lumpur – it resonated with many Malaysians who felt Bella was finally getting the happy ending she deserved.
Syed Saddiq’s Saturday post announcing that Bella, 32, “had said yes” racked up almost 3 million views on social media and their engagement ritual, live-streamed by broadcaster Astro, drew more than 180,000 viewers.
Fans soaked up the occasion, framing it as vindication after years of watching Bella suffer.
“One Malaysia watched Bella being cheated on, and one Malaysia is now watching Bella being fought for,” one commenter said.
Another said: “We all know how Bella has suffered before. Now she has a reliable man by her side, so we can rest easy.”

I asked, she said yes 💍
Ini bukan pengakhiran cerita, ini permulaan kita.
Dan hari ini majlis pertunangan kami, doakan.
Bermula dengan kerjasama biasa yang akhirnya meraih lebih RM6 juta untuk rakyat, tanpa sedar turut menyatukan dua hati.
Allah SWT sebaik-baik perancang.… pic.twitter.com/ENj8Kn3OKN
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) March 28, 2026

Bella, who married Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz in 2016, split from him three years later after he was linked to multiple infidelity scandals. The couple had two children together.
They reconciled soon after, but the marriage collapsed again in 2024, following Aliff’s detention for khalwat (close proximity) with actress Ruhainies in Kuala Lumpur – an incident that finalised Bella’s second divorce.
Last year, Aliff and Ruhainies pleaded guilty and paid a 3,000 ringgit (US$743) fine set by a sharia judge.
Bella was later granted full custody of their children.
Rumours between Bella and Syed Saddiq first swirled in 2024, when they became brand ambassadors for a clothing line before the pair began appearing more frequently on each other’s social media accounts.
Tehmina Kaoosji, an independent broadcast journalist and gender equity activist, said the overwhelming public reaction, especially among women, was about “more than swooning over celebrity romance”.
“A lot of women are responding to the ‘Bass’ engagement through the realities of divorce, stigma and survival in Malaysia,” she told This Week in Asia, referring to the fan moniker built from their names.
Bella’s story, she said, resonated because the actress was “not just another celebrity who got engaged”, but a woman who had gone through “a very public marital breakdown, public embarrassment endured over her husband’s serial infidelities and single motherhood” before finding love again in full view of the same public.

In 2023, Malaysia recorded 57,835 divorces, according to the Department of Statistics, with Muslim dissolutions making up 44,322 cases, or 76.6 per cent of the total.
According to the 2020 census, the number of single mothers stood at 940,735, including 246,786 who were divorced or permanently separated.
Tehmina said there remained “a persistent and deeply discriminatory hierarchy in how society views women and marriage”, with divorced mothers often treated as though they had lesser value.
That was why the sight of a high-profile man publicly and seriously choosing Bella carried symbolic force, she said.
“Many women see that as a symbolic rejection of tired old scripts and prejudices.”

The ‘Bella’ effect
During Saturday’s engagement ceremony, the Muar lawmaker cast aside his political persona.
“Today I’m not speaking as a member of parliament,” he said. “I’m speaking as the luckiest man on earth.”
Describing Bella as an “exceptional” and “talented iron lady”, Syed Saddiq said she “never understood what it means to be tired” and kept finding a way to rise again.
Most striking was the way he addressed Bella’s children, an issue that has shadowed public discussion of the relationship from the start.
“I want to make it very clear here,” he said. “I love Bella not in spite of, but because of her two children as well.”
Many supporters also praised his reported gesture of including savings and fund contributions for Bella and her two children.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also joined in, joking in a social media post: “Congratulations, don’t forget the invitation card.”
Syed Saddiq shot to prominence in 2018 when he entered cabinet as Malaysia’s youngest-ever federal minister at 25. However, his career has since been shadowed by a corruption case involving Bersatu youth wing funds.
Malaysia’s Court of Appeal acquitted him in June 2025, but prosecutors later pressed ahead with a final appeal at the Federal Court.


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Malaysian lawmaker Syed Saddiq with singer-actress Bella Astillah. Photo: Instagram/syedsaddiq

Syed Saddiq called Bella an “exceptional” and “talented iron lady”. Photo: Instagram/syedsaddiq

Syed Saddiq with Bella and her children. Photo: Instagram/syedsaddiq

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This Week in Asia

People

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Many Malaysians celebrate the singer’s engagement to the lawmaker, seeing it as a triumph over past heartbreak and a challenge to societal norms


Many Malaysians celebrate the singer’s engagement to the lawmaker, seeing it as a triumph over past heartbreak and a challenge to societal norms.


Fame and celebrity

Sex and relationships

Anwar Ibrahim

Singapore

Turn up the ‘Bass’: why Bella Astillah, Syed Saddiq’s new chapter has captured Malaysia

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Many Malaysians celebrate the singer’s engagement to the lawmaker, seeing it as a triumph over past heartbreak and a challenge to societal norms

Many Malaysians celebrate the singer’s engagement to the lawmaker, seeing it as a triumph over past heartbreak and a challenge to societal norms