As "captain" of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia's youth wing, dubbed the Armada, Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman is ready to move his "fleet" against the political tide.

For one, Syed Saddiq said that his line-up of 21 exco leaders and 12 state chiefs were appointed following a "corporate interview" process which attracted over 1,000 applications.

This was despite "a bunch of old people" controlling the Bersatu central leadership line-up, he told a press conference in Subang Jaya today.

"From the applicants, those who are shortlisted were called for an interview.

"This is the most inclusive way to ensure that all applicants would be evaluated based on meritocracy and in a democratic manner," he said.

Among others, Syed Saddiq said his line-up includes a medical doctor, businessmen, a person with disabilities, former student leaders and three students from local public universities.

Their representation, he pointed out, goes beyond the current dominance of urban professional youths in politics.

"We are not apologetic when we say we represent motoring groups, car clubs, persons with disabilities and others.

"Although people say Bersatu is like Umno, we make it a point at the very beginning, the foundation of Armada there must be at least one non-bumiputera (exco) member to ensure that in the long-run we would be an inclusive party," he said.

In terms of membership, he said the Armada wing is open to members aged between 15 and 35, currently representing some 40 per cent of total registered members.

Syed Saddiq also expressed gratitude to Bersatu's chairperson Mahathir Mohamed and president Muhyiddin Yassin, for recognising the role of youths by appointing him to the post of vice-president.

Video games and politics do mix

The "corporate interview" was not the only new thing that Armada Bersatu is bringing to the table.

Prior to the press conference, Syed Saddiq and other Armada Bersatu leaders participated in three rounds of Dota 2, a competitive computer game, at a nearby cyber cafe, involving 20 players divided into four teams, as part of their youth outreach efforts.

"When I was playing earlier, I lost badly. I used to be quite obsessed and played up to 10 hours a week but I got 'whacked' today," he conceded.

He later told Malaysiakini of his escapades as a 14-year-old boy with a neighbourhood friend.

"I used to tell my mum I would sleep at my neighbour's house, my neighbour would tell his mum he would sleep at my house, we meet at a middle point and walk to the cyber cafe.

"We would play for 10 hours because there was a discount if we played that long. I was so addicted to that," he recounted.

"But one day my mum caught me skipping school. She literally pasted my face (photo) at every single cyber cafe to ban me from entering.

"And then I changed," he said, adding that the experience allowed him to connect with the new generation of youths and how their voices should not be ignored.

The appointed youth leaders also took their oath of office today in the run-up to Bersatu's official launch on Jan 14.