Malaysian politician Syed Saddiq invites Health Minister Ong Ye Kung to his October wedding

SINGAPORE: Everyone loves a love story, but a love story that reaches politically across the Causeway is certifiably next-level.

Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, who is somewhat of a wunderkind in Malaysian politics, caught up with Health Minister Ong Ye Kung this week and invited him to his wedding next month to the singer-actress Bella Astillah.

The couple is set to get married on Oct 10 at Level 118 of Menara Merdeka Maybank in Kuala Lumpur, Malay Mail reported last month.

On Thursday (Sept 10), Mr Syed Saddiq wrote in an Instagram post how pleased he was to have seen Mr Ong this week, and then added, “Malaysia and Singapore are inseparable like family. So, in the spirit of family-building, I officially upgraded bilateral relations to wedding-invitation status. See you next month, sir!”

He posted a photo of himself with Mr Ong, with the Singapore Health Minister holding what appears to be a wedding invitation.

Mr Ong liked the photo and commented, “Congratulations once again!”

The minister posted the same photo on his socials, along with the caption, “Honoured to be invited to the wedding of my social media ‘teacher’ Syed Saddiq! A good reason to visit Malaysia again.”

Humorously, a number of Instagram users commented on Mr Syed Saddiq’s post as well, tagging Mr Ong and offering to tag along to the wedding as his plus one.

“Dear Mr @ongyekung, I’m your resident from Canberra Walk. Please bring me along too! I promise I’ll behave, carry the wedding gift, and represent Canberra very well. Don’t leave your resident behind!” one wrote.

Another offered to act as Mr Ong’s translator, though the Minister started learning Malay almost a decade ago to help with his public duties.

Mr Syed Saddiq, 33, served as Malaysia’s serving as Minister of Youth and Sports from 2018 to 2020, was the first President of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance, as well as the first Youth Chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party.

He has been the MP for Muar since 2018.

He and Ms Astillah, 32, who have known each other for the past few years, got engaged on March 28. Ms Astillah has two children, aged 6 and 9, with her first husband, the Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz.

In 2021, Mr Syed Saddiq was in Singapore for his studies at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS). /TISG

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