Syerleena Abdul Rashid (born 31 August 1980) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Bendera since November 2022 and Member of the

Penang State Legislative Assembly The Penang State Legislative Assembly is the legislature of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is a unicameral institution, consisting of a total of 40 elected lawmakers representing single-member constituencies throughout Penang. The state legis ...

(MLA) for Seri Delima since May 2018. She served as Member of the

Penang Island City Council The City Council of Penang Island is the council that administers the city of Pulau Pinang, which includes the entirety of Penang Island, Malaysia. The city council, which has jurisdiction over an area of , falls under the purview of the Penang s ...

from 2015 to 2018. She is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP). In addition to her involvement in politics, Syerleena had been a columnist for The Malaysian Insider and contributed extensively in various online news portals. She was also formerly a member of Aliran, a local non-governmental organisation, as well as an anti-human trafficking movement.

Political career

Syerleena joined the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in 2013, after being encouraged by her associate,

Chris Lee Chun Kit Chris Lee Chun Kit ( zh, s=李俊杰, t=李俊傑, p=Lǐ Jùnjié, poj=Lí Chùn-kia̍t, born 15 July 1982) is a Malaysian politician who served as Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Pulau Tikus from May 2018 to August 202 ...

. Both Syerleena and Chris were subsequently appointed as councillors of the

, with Syerleena taking office in the local government in January 2015. On 26 April 2018, prior to the Penang state election that year, Syerleena stepped down as a Councillor of the Penang Island City Council and was selected to contest the state constituency of Seri Delima. She faced a three cornered tussle for the constituency, and had to endure personal attacks and harassment by her opponents, especially Barisan Nasional (BN) far-rights from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). In spite of these, Syerleena prevailed in the election, winning by a margin of 13,211 votes. Syerleena continued to face harassment by Muslim extremists after the election. In July 2018, she received a death threat accompanied by two slanderous messages, accusing her of wanting to weaken Islamic institutions and make Christianity the country's official religion.

DAP Penang

Syerleena formally joined DAP in 2013 and is currently the Assistant Publicity Secretary for DAP Penang and a National Executive Committee Member for DAP Wanita (the national women’s wing of the party).
/sup> Syerleena is one of the DAP leaders being sued for defamation by UUM lecturer, Kamarul Zaman Yusoff for a statement she had written in 2017 “Save yourself first and leave the rest of the nation alone” which was published by several online news portals.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/53138

/sup>

Awards and recognition

YSEALI

In 2015, Syerleena was selected to participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, also known as YSEALI a highly-competitive United States Cultural Exchange Programs, cultural exchange program for Southeast Asian emerging leaders sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs under the

U.S Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other natio ...

. Under the Fall of 2015 cohort, Professional Fellowship Program, she spent 4 weeks with the Des Moines City Council, Iowa.

ACYPL-US State Department Exchange Delegate

Syerleena was selected as a delegate for the American Council of Young Political Leaders Exchange Program in collaboration with the United States government's State Department and observed election rallies of presidential candidates including that of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

as well as observed a caucus in Iowa.

Personal life

In February 2021, Syerleena married Tom Osborn, and is the guitarist and song writer for local rock band, Priwayat that she formed with fellow DAP member,

Zairil Khir Johari Zairil Khir Johari (born 17 October 1982) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Penang State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state administration under Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Member of the Pen ...

and guitarist for Post-Rock Pioneers of Malaysia
DDA
Shankar.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/546902]

Education

Syerleena was a Graphic Communication graduate from School of Arts, University of Science, Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, but prior to that she had received her primary and secondary education from Convent Green Lane.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul Rashid, Syerleena Living people People from Penang Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Penang State Legislative Assembly Women MLAs in Penang Universiti Sains Malaysia alumni 21st-century Malaysian politicians 1980 births 21st-century Malaysian women politicians