Back Syed Saddiq S Dilemma Budding Romance With Bella Astillah On One Hand Prison Term On The Other

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(NW) – You might not believe it when you look at him, but Syed Saddiq might be in jail by the
end of this month.
On Nov 9, 2023, the High Court found Syed Saddiq guilty of four charges of abetting in criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of funds and money laundering involving RM1.2mil.
He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment, a RM10mil fine and two strokes of the cane for all four charges of abetting in criminal breach of trust (CBT), misappropriation of funds and money laundering.
In a couple of weeks, on March 19 and 20, 2025, The Court of Appeal has scheduled for Syed Saddiq ’s appeal hearing against his conviction and sentence for corruption.
If the court of appeal rejects his appeal, Syed Saddiq could possibly find himself in prison by the end of this month.
But when you look at Syed Saddiq today, not only doesn’t he look at all concerned about this very grim and depressing prospect, he seems to be having the time of his life.
Since his sentence was pronounced, Syed Saddiq has participated in ironman contests, became a part time model and is now engaged in much publicized romantic relationship with celebrity Bella Astillah, as if everything in his life is going exactly as how he dreamed it would be.
Now according to Kamal Hassan, the famed Tamil thespian, to be brave is to have fear but not show it.
Well, by that definition, I will have to say that Syed Saddiq must indeed be the bravest lad in the nation, because I don’t see any signs of fear or trepidation in him, about something that almost everybody in his situation would be dreading and be depressed about.
Syed Saddiq seems so brave, as a matter of fact, I am even starting to wonder whether everything is ok with him in the psychological department. Sometimes, when the stress we are facing is so great, we might detach ourselves completely from reality and start living an alternate reality in our head. When I look at Syed Saddiq these days, his appearance, expressions and gestures seems so estranged with the reality of his circumstance, that I can’t help but wonder I wonder whether he is still in tune with the reality of his circumstances.
But either way, I hope that his much publicized romance with Bella Astillah, is not just a stunt, but something that is genuine, even if it comes at a dark point in his life.
What I mean by stunt is that I am given to suspect that individuals and entities in Malaysia tend to react to the crisis they are facing by crafting an image that all is fine and well with them, as a means of turning things around.
Take EPF and HRD Corp for instance.
HRD Corp if you remember, was implicated in a scandal last year, whereby it had failed the audit by the Auditor General so badly, that the Auditor General had referred HRD Corp to the authorities for mismanagement.
In July last year, the HRD Corp CEO was even forced to go on leave pending a probe by MACC.
A couple of weeks ago however, HRD Corp has announced that it had set several records last year, to the point that 2024 was its best year ever.
As for EPF, its top brass was and currently mired in a controversy involving a RM 500 million loss that EPF suffered in 2024, due to a “buy high, sell low” transaction involving MAHB shares in 2024.
This last week however, that EPF has announced an unexpectedly high dividend for the year 2024, will now probably make it much harder for EPF’s critics to accuse EPF’s top brass of any wrongdoing over the MAHB share sales in 2024. How can you blame the same management for a dodgy decision and action that resulted in RM 500 million in loss last year, when the same management also had done so well for EPF that you are now enjoying an unexpectedly high dividend for your EPF savings, right?
Although I can’t say for sure, but sometimes I suspect if our prominent personalities or institutions are hiring spin doctors to turn things around for them when they hit a snag, “to fake it like they have made it, until they actually have made it”, is what I think they are advising their clients to do to handle the crisis that they are facing.
In other words, I suspect that what is often happening in our country, is that prominent personalities and institutions are deliberately creating an “image” or an “impression” or an “illusion”, that will be able to convince a large number of people that the reality is not what it seems, in the hopes that if enough people are convinced, the illusion that they concoct will have the power to become a self fulfilling prophecy.
For the same reason, that Syed Saddiq is coming out with a much publicized romance with Bella Astillah, right around the time when the courts will decide whether he will go free or end up in prison for a long time, is making me wonder if the one had to do with the other, or wheher both are truly independent events that are unrelated to each other.
If Syed Saddiq’s love affair is so famous that even PMX Anwar quipped about it, surely every one in the country, including a judge, must have heard about it.
Judges are human beings too. Who wants to be to feel like they are a cold hearted monster that are separating two young lovers apart, even if you are only doing your job?
Even Syed Saddiq’s mother has already equated the love affair of the two with that of Romeo and Juliet. Imagine if you are the judge that will have to make a decision that might cause the love affair of these two national sweethearts to become star crossed.
Rather than be remembered as the one that came between Romeo and Juliet, why not just give the guy a break, you might think, and just hand him a slap in the wrist and a warning instead, and hope that his close call with the law and the fact that he might be a husband and a father soon, will chasten him to do things right from now on.
In person, I am actually not at all a cynical person, but when it comes to our politics and politicians, I have to confess, I have become such a intractable cynic, that I cannot view anything that our politicians do as being free from ulterior motives.
When I ask myself whether it is me that is at fault for always seeing everything I read with an eyes full of suspicion and a heart full of doubt, I have to say I find myself mostly innocent.
If there is someone to blame for my cynical eyes and skeptical heart, it is our politicians and their antics that I chiefly blame from my lack of ability to trust.
I think the shenanigans that they pull have so made me skeptical and doubtful of them, that even if they say that the grass is green and the sky is blue, I might need to double and triple check, just to be sure that I am not being taken for a ride.
In any case, I hope I am wrong.
I hope the much publicized romance between Syed and Bella Atillah, that currently goes by the acronym BASS by the fan followers of the couple’s romantic relationship, is genuine and they will find a happily ever after as a result.
Personally, I think that whatever it is that Syed Saddiq has been found guilty of, considering that all that is happening in our political landscape, I am inclined to believe that it is not such a big deal, that we will only be satisfied if he serves a prison sentence.
Right or wrong, whatever he did, he had only done it once, and considering that he is still young and considering the extremely bad example that he must have had being a politician in Malaysia, I personally don’t see why a slap in the wrist followed by a serious warning would not suffice to make him accountable for what he did.
If he does it again, then it is tiada maaf bagi mu, but otherwise, in this crazy world that we live in, it will be nice to see happy ending once in a while.
I hope the course of justice will be served to of course, but otherwise, I do hope that everything will turn out well for the young couple, if not in the short run, then in the long run.
Fingers crossed.
Source : NewsWaz
The post Back Syed Saddiq’s dilemma: Budding romance with Bella Astillah on one hand, prison term on the other appeared first on Malaysia Today.

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