He may not be the loudest politician out there but Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, 40, has made his mark on the Malaysian political scene as a rational liberal voice in a sea of bigotry and identity politics.

The PKR politician made waves when he contested and won the Seri Setia state seat in Selangor at the groundbreaking 2008 general election and successfully defended the seat in 2013, before being “upgraded” to MP status the last time around.

Nik Nazmi was PKR Youth chief in 2014 and is now one of the party’s four vice-presidents. He was also recently appointed to lead the party in Kelantan and Terengganu.

After years of writing about policy, history and people he highly respects, such as his father (‘In Public Service: The Life of My father Nik Ahmad, 2018’) his latest book, ‘Malaysian Son: A Progressive’s Political Journey In the Heart of Southeast Asia’, published by Penguin Random House SEA, is perhaps the closest to capturing the man behind the politician...