Bella Astillah and Syed Saddiq’s new chapter captivates Malaysia

Malaysian lawmaker Syed Saddiq with singer-actress Bella Astillah.

Photo: Instagram/syedsaddiq For years, Malaysians watched singer-actress Bella Astillah’s heartbreak unfold in public.

They saw her endure a troubled marriage, a cheating scandal and a divorce while raising two children under the glare of celebrity culture.

When lawmaker Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 33, proposed to her – first on Mount Kinabalu and later at a formal engagement ceremony in Kuala Lumpur – it resonated with many Malaysians who felt Bella was finally getting the happy ending she deserved.

Syed Saddiq’s Saturday post announcing that Bella, 32, “had said yes” racked up almost 3 million views on social media and their engagement ritual, live-streamed by broadcaster Astro, drew more than 180,000 viewers.

Fans soaked up the occasion, framing it as vindication after years of watching Bella suffer. “One Malaysia watched Bella being cheated on, and one Malaysia is now watching Bella being fought for,” one commenter said.

Another said: “We all know how Bella has suffered before.

Now she has a reliable man by her side, so we can rest easy.” Bella, who married Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz in 2016, split from him three years later after he was linked to multiple infidelity scandals.

The couple had two children together.

They reconciled soon after, but the marriage collapsed again in 2024, following Aliff’s detention for khalwat (close proximity) with actress Ruhainies in Kuala Lumpur – an incident that finalised Bella’s second divorce.

Last year, Aliff and Ruhainies pleaded guilty and paid a 3,000 ringgit (US$743) fine set by a sharia judge.

Bella was later granted full custody of their children.

Rumours between Bella and Syed Saddiq first swirled in 2024, when they became brand ambassadors for a clothing line before the pair began appearing more frequently on each other’s social media accounts.

Tehmina Kaoosji, an independent broadcast journalist and gender equity activist, said the overwhelming public reaction, especially among women, was about “more than swooning over celebrity romance”. “A lot of women are responding to the ‘Bass’ engagement through the realities of divorce, stigma and survival in Malaysia,” she told This Week in Asia, referring to the fan moniker built from their names.

Bella’s story, she said, resonated because the actress was “not just another celebrity who got engaged”, but a woman who had gone through “a very public marital breakdown, public embarr

原文链接: 南华早报